Bengaluru, usually just another Indian city, for most people barring techies of course, will turn into a temple for over 500 cricketers across the globe on January 27 and 28, as Richard Madley will once again lift his hammer for IPL auction 2018, a platform where destinies of many capped and uncapped players are decided and made.
This year, England’s opening batsman has certainly made himself a very attractive option in the IPL auction. His performances in the ongoing ODI series against Australia have come just at the right time.
Roy hit a sensational 180 in the first ODI at Melbourne, as he entertained the jam-packed crowd and wowed the worldwide audience. With his base price pegged at Rs 1.5 crore in the mega-auction, Roy’s brilliance will definitely add a few crores to his eventual base price.
The Englishmen was picked up by the Gujarat Lions last year at his base price of Rs 1 crore.
Out of all the eight franchises, Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders are extremely interested in including Roy in their team, as both teams are looking for a quality top order batsman.
CSK always had a foreign star at the top order, with the Matthew Hayden, Micheal Hussey, Dwayne Bravo and Brendon McCullum to name a few. And with Dhoni returning as captain, the yellow army will once again be in the auction for a belligerent opener. With 3 RTM cards available to them, CSK may be looking to use one of the cards and bring back McCullum into their fold.
But if they decide against bringing back the former Kiwi skipper, the likes of Jason Roy could be a more than suitable replacement.
KKR is the other team that is very keen on Roy. The newly laid Eden Gardens pitch is expected to be fast and with good bounce, way opposite to the slow turning tracks that used to be there in past. This would suit Jason Roy to the tee, as the hard-hitting opener prefers the ball coming on to bat, making him the best bid for KKR.
While only CSK and KKR have made their interest shown, there will certainly be other teams who will go big for the talented English opener.
