New Delhi. Indian cricket’s great spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin has made some important predictions before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 auction. The auction is scheduled to take place on December 19, 2023 at 1 pm IST in Dubai. All 10 IPL teams are preparing for the event, with a total of 333 players including 214 Indian and 119 overseas players shortlisted. England lead the field with 25 overseas players, followed by Australia with 21. Indian cricket team’s veteran spinner Ashwin shared his vision on the possible auction prices based on the players’ cricketing shots. They have divided players into different price ranges:
- Defenders expected to be sold between Rs 2-4 crore
- Drivers are expected to be sold for between Rs 4-7 crores.
- Pullers are expected to be sold for Rs 7-10 crore.
- Sloggers are expected to be sold for Rs 10-14 crore.
- Players with helicopter shot are expected to be sold for more than Rs 14 crore.
In the list of players worth more than Rs 14 crore, Ashwin mentioned two Australians, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, placing them in the helicopter shot category. This means that according to Ashwin, bids of more than Rs 14 crore can be made for these two players. However, it is worth noting that Ashwin placed Travis Head in the defenders category, which suggests a surprising estimate of Rs 2-4 crore.
Ashwin classified Umesh Yadav in the driver category and suggested a price range of Rs 4-7 crore. In the same category, he also included New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra, who is known for scoring the most runs for New Zealand in the recent World Cup.
Moving to the pullers category (7-10 crore), Ashwin listed India’s Harshal Patel, West Indies’ Rovman Powell and South Africa’s Gerald Coetzee. It remains to be seen how accurate Ashwin’s predictions will prove to be during the actual IPL 2024 auction.