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Jhye Richardson made headlines at the IPL 2021 auction when he was acquired by Punjab Kings for a whopping amount of Rs. 14 crores.
However, he played only three games and picked up as many wickets at an average of 39. The first leg of IPL 2021 was postponed after a few games due to the pandemic of Covid-19 and thereafter, Richardson did not return for the second leg of IPL 2021.
The Aussie quickie did not register his name for IPL 2022. He is now back in the reckoning for IPL 2023 and could be on the radar of a few teams in the upcoming auction.
In 18 T20Is for Australia, Richardson has picked up 19 wickets at an average of 29.26. He has an impressive record in domestic T20s having picked up 99 wickets at an average of 22.41.
Considering his track record in the T20 format, Richardson could be on the wishlist of a few teams going into the IPL 2023 auction. Here is a look at three such teams that could target Richardson at the auction:
#1 Gujarat Titans
The defending IPL champions Gujarat Titans released two fast bowlers, Lockie Ferguson and Varun Aaron, ahead off the IPL 2023 auction. The team will be on the hunt for an experienced bowler and could target Jhye Richardson at the IPL 2023 auction.
Richardson has played a lot of T20 cricket and will look to replicate his impressive performances in IPL. He could be the perfect bowler to complement the experienced Mohammad Shami and Kagiso Rabada in the lineup.
The defending champions have almost all the boxes ticked going into IPL 2023 and the inclusion of Richardson could strengthen their existing squad.
#2 Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
Lucknow Super Giants have released as many as four fast bowlers before the IPL 2023 auction.The likes of Andrew Tye, Ankit Singh Rajpoot, Jason Holder, and Dushmantha Chameera will no longer feature for LSG in the upcoming IPL season. The team will be desperate to have fast bowling options for the upcoming IPL season and could target Richardson in the mini-auction.
The team currently has Avesh Khan, Mark Wood, and Mohsin Khan as front-line pacers. However, there are no experienced pacers as backup options in case there is an injury to any of the front-line pacers.
The addition of Jhye Richardson could strengthen their fast bowling attack and provide an extra pace option for skipper KL Rahul as and when the situation demands.
#3 Chennai Super Kings (CSK):
While Adam Milne, Chris Jordan, and K.M. Asif have been released by the franchise, Dwayne Bravo has retired and will no longer play in the IPL 2023. Chennai Super Kings badly missed an experienced pace bowling option in IPL 2022 as they lost Deepak Chahar to an injury.
With Chahar likely to play IPL 2023, the team is also looking for an experienced T20 bowler who can spearhead their fast bowling department.
Jhye Richardson could certainly provide more attacking options to MS Dhoni and a wicket-taking option in the powerplay as well as the death overs.
