With only a few days to go for the official players’ auction of the most popular cricket carnival – the Indian Premier League (IPL) – the franchises must have rolled up their sleeves to go for a full monty to select their best squad.
Being a World-Cup winning captain, Eoin Morgan of England could come handy as an impressive middle-order batsman. The southpaw led his team from the front in the 2019 ODI World Cup. He was the leading six-hitter of the tournament with 22 sixes in 10 innings.
The trend has been seen in the recent editions of IPL that the teams which have a decent middle-order have made it big in the exciting tournament.
The IPL team-owners didn’t seem to be interested in Morgan during the previous auction. However, the situation would be different this time.
So, let’s have a look at the three teams that could bid for Morgan this year:
- Royal Challengers Bangalore
Having the worst outing in the last season, Virat Kohli-led RCB have made their intentions of bidding clear by retaining 12 players with only two amongst them as overseas.
Since Challengers pin their hopes on Kohli and AB de Villiers, it would be crucial for them to solve the middle-order problem, and Morgan’s addition can do that successfully.
Morgan has helped his country to win their first ODI World cup, so he knows a thing or two about winning titles for the first time, and therefore he can guide RCB in that direction.
- Kings XI Punjab
Preity Zinta co-owned Kings XI Punjab were quite loyal to the South African batsman David Miller, but it seems they have given up the patience, and hence, they released him ahead of the auction.
Now, KXIP could bid for Eoin Morgan as they also need a robust middle-order batsman.
Using Morgan’s experience, Punjab may get across the finish line to win their maiden IPL title. More importantly, the Indian batsman would also gain valuable insights from England’s limited-overs captain.
- Delhi Capitals
Delhi Capitals would be looking for an overseas left-handed batsman in the 2020 auction as Colin Munro and Colin Ingram didn’t perform well for the team in the previous IPL seasons. The Capitals released Munro and Ingram from the squad last month and they are now back in the auction pool.
Meanwhile, Morgan can play a crucial role for DC in the upcoming edition, and his presence would be much more motivating for the Delhi players than Munro or Ingram.
Delhi reached the qualifiers in the last IPL season but failed to proceed further as the three-time champions Chennai Super Kings – led by MS Dhoni outplayed them.
However, if a similar situation comes again, then having Eoin Morgan on the side can be a game-changer.
