Former India opener Virender Sehwag feels that the UAE cricketers have the potential to make an impact in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and can possibly contend for a good price in the IPL’s upcoming auction as they have got the ability to smash the ball big as well as take wickets.

Sehwag, who was the captain of one of the teams of the recently concluded T10 Cricket league, that was played in UAE. His team Maratha Arabians did a decent job by reaching in the league’s semi-final before losing it to the Kerala Kings who eventually became the champions in the inaugural edition at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Viru is the mentor of the IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab, feels the players from UAE do have a good chance to feature in the upcoming IPL edition, as the auction this time promises to be as exciting as ever. He said, “Players from UAE and Afghanistan are playing in this league. As a mentor in the IPL, I have watched a lot of players, and when it comes to auction in the IPL, I will know the players who have the capability to score runs or take wickets.”

UAE cricketers would like to draw inspiration from their teammate Chirag Suri, who featured in the last edition of IPL for the Gujarat Lions. Talking about the same, Sehwag said, “You can’t play T10 everywhere in the world. This is the first league. In the coming year, maybe [elsewhere], you never know.”