The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction is hardly 15 days away. The much-awaited event will be taking place on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru with all the participating teams looking forward to outbidding each other at the auction table. Meanwhile, the 15th edition of the tournament will be a 10-team affair with two new franchises being introduced- Lucknow and Ahmedabad respectively.
Ahead of the auction, many players have come forward and registered their names. Meanwhile, veteran cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle has picked a couple of players who are expected to fetch big bucks in the two-day event and they are young wicketkeeper batter Ishan Kishan and emerging Tamil Nadu batter Shahrukh Khan.
During a chat on Cricbuzz, Harsha Bhogle said, “Ishan Kishan, because he ticks off an Indian player, left-hander, wicketkeeper… left-hand top-order wicketkeeper, that’s three boxes you’re looking for.”
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Heaping praise on Shahrukh, Harsha Bhogle added that the Tamil Nadu cricketer is big and built like Yusuf Pathan and also said that he has the ability to make his presence felt at the crease just like how Yusuf used to do during his heydays.
Elaborating the same, Shahrukh Khan said, “I’m expecting him to do really well this year because there is a spark about him, and he’s got a huge presence at the crease. He’s big built, a bit like Yusuf Pathan. You know, Yusuf Pathan in his prime when he was batting, he had that presence about him at the crease, and I find a little bit of that in Shahrukh Khan.”
Ishan Kishan was roped in by the Mumbai Indians (MI) during the 2018 IPL mega auction and since then he has amassed 1133 runs from 45 IPL games. He has been released by the five-time champions and it would be interesting to see whether they would yet again have him on board next month.
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Shahrukh Khan was signed by the Punjab Kings for INR 5.25 crores in the 2021 IPL auction and in the 11 matches that he got to play, Khan averaged 21.85 and had a strike rate of 134.21. He opted to come into the auction instead of getting retained.
The promising batter has already made a statement ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction by finishing things off in style with an outstanding last-ball six for Tamil Nadu in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final against southern rivals Karnataka.