IPL 2022 Auction: 4 overseas batsmen who may get surprise IPL contracts

1. Devon Conway (New Zealand)

Conway has the base price of Rs 1 crore and the Kiwi batsman is having a sensational run across the formats. He has been unbelievably flexible and scores at well over an average of 50 in three formats. In T20I, his average is 50.16 from 20 matches while scoring 602 runs and his strike-rate is 139.35. Conway is also an occasional medium pacer, and he had a good ICC T20 World Cup 2021 too. Conway should be able to crack the IPL contract code this time.

2. Rassie Van der Dussen (South Africa)

The South African batsman has a base price of Rs 1 crore. Rassie had a wonderful limited-over series against India in January and that will have a reflection on his IPL auction prospectus. He so far has played 34 T20Is and made 933 runs at a strike-rate of 130. He offers the teams the option of having a solid batsman in the middle overs who can accelerate at will. The 32-year-old also has vast experience in T20 league across the world, smashing three hundreds along the way. This could be Rassie’s year to earn his first IPL contract.

3. Tim David (Singapore)

The 6 feet 5 inch player from Singapore comes with a massive reputation as a big-hitter. He had earned a contract with Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2021 but couldn’t make much of an impact. But that might not affect his overall package appeal as he makes runs at a breath-taking strike rate of 158. David showed glimpses of his abilities when he cracked a 29-ball 71 for Multan Sultans in the Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League (PSL 2022) on Tuesday (February 1). The franchises might just have noticed all that.

4. Bhanuka Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka)

The Lankan middle-order batsman has a base price of Rs 50 lakh. Bhanuka is a solid batter in the middle-order and is quite experienced and make runs at good rate of 136. Apart from being an aggressive middle-order batter, Bhanuka is also a very useful part-time bowler and has taken 27 wickets from a total of 105 T20s. At 50 lakh, Bhanuka could be a real flexible option and some teams might just go for him.