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The countdown for the players’ auction of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 has started. The mini-auction is set to take place in Chennai on Thursday (February 18). Ahead of the bidding process, all franchises have submitted their list of released and retained players.
Meanwhile, several cricket experts have started revealing their prophecies regarding how much money some certain players can attract in the upcoming auctions. Following the bandwagon, former India opener Aakash Chopra has selected five players who could turn out to be the most expensive picks in the cash-rich league’s upcoming season.
Chopra began his predictions by naming Australian speedster Mitchell Starc as the most expensive player in IPL 2021. The cricketer-turned-commentator said that teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Mumbai Indians (MI), Rajasthan Royals (RR) are expected to run behind Starc as they all need a gun pacer.
Starc made his debut for RCB back in 2014, but he hasn’t played too many games since then. The left-armer has so far appeared in 27 IPL matches and picked up 34 wickets at an average of 20.38 with 4/15 being his best.
For his second pick, Chopra went with another Aussie superstar Glenn Maxwell. Chopra believed that Maxwell might attract a heavy amount in the upcoming auction despite his poor performance in the previous season. He said that teams like Chennai Super Kings (CSK), RCB can run for Maxwell and even KXIP could buy him again.
Dawid Malan shall be the hot pick in IPL 2021
Chopra picked England batsman Dawid Malan as the hot property for the upcoming auction. The 43-year-old said that many teams need a proper top-order batsman and Malan shall be a very important member.
The former cricketer reckoned that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) might take Malan in the side as they have an English captain (Eoin Morgan) who could pick the left-handed batsman as an opener in the side.
As his fourth and fifth choice, Chopra went with Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman and Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan.
KXIP released Mujeeb, and as per the Delhi lad, Mujeeb will attract massive bids. He also predicted that Shakib would be amongst the hottest choices in the upcoming IPL auction as the veteran player brings vast experience alongside him.
