5 Overseas players who will play in IPL for the first time in 2019

There are still few months left for the 12th edition of the IPL, but the world's biggest franchise-based T20 tournament has already started to be the talk of the town. The players' auction for the upcoming IPL was completed in December, last year, and all the franchises have now prepared their teams according to their requirements.

The ICC World Cup 2019 will start soon after the conclusion of IPL and as a result, many players have backed out from this edition of the IPL, while many players will leave the tournament mid-way.

Considering this fact, most of the franchises have tried to select those players who will be available throughout the IPL.

Now, let's have a look at the 5 overseas players who will be playing in the IPL for the very first time in 2019:

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Oshane Thomas (Rajasthan Royals)

Oshane Thomas' pace and accuracy makes him a lethal fast-bowler

West Indian bowler Oshane Thomas made his ODI and T20I debut against India, in the recent West Indies tour of India, where he grabbed everyone's attention with his brilliant bowling skills.

A consistent bowler, who can clock 145km/h on a regular basis, Thomas troubled the Indian openers, particularly Dhawan, and ended up being West Indies' most successful bowler in the T20I series.

The 21-year-old was the second highest wicket-taker in the 2018 Caribbean Premier League. Playing for Jamaica Tallawahs, Thomas scalped 18 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 17.6 with an economy of 8.36. His strike rate of 12.6 was the best among the bowlers.

His accuracy and pace could make him the real deal in the IPL as well. Rajasthan Royals bagged Thomas at a price of 1.1 crores at the auctions and this will be Thomas' first IPL tournament.

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Jason Behrendorff (Mumbai Indians)

Last year an injury had kept Jason Behrendorff away from the IPL, however, Mumbai Indians kept their faith in the Aussie pacer and has retained him in the team for 1.5 crores.

This time around he seems fully fit and is all set to take part in the IPL for the very first time. The left-handed fast-bowler has the ability to swing the ball both ways, making him an exciting prospect in the powerplay overs.

The 28-years-old plays for Perth Scorchers in the BBL and has quite impressive stats in T20s. In 49 T20 matches, he has taken 66 wickets at an economy of 7.16.

Behrendorff had impressed everyone in his debut T20I match against India, in 2017. Being played in Guwahati, he picked up 4 top-order wickets in his 4 overs at the cost of a mere 21 runs.

Recently, he made his ODI debut for Australia against India and was quite impressive with the ball as he scalped 3 wickets in 2 matches.

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Sam Curran (Kings XI Punjab)

Sam Curran is the one to look out for

Kings XI Punjab bought the England all-rounder Sam Curran at a whopping price of ₹7.2 crores in the auctions. Such a high bid was expected for the 20-year-old, looking at his incredible performance in the Test series during India's tour of England. In the entire series, he had shown some great all-round performances and proved to be the difference between the two sides.

It was already predicted that all the IPL franchise would definitely try to include Curran in their squad and the auctions didn't disappoint. However, the concern is that Curran has not played much white-ball cricket and it will be interesting to see if he can repeat his red-ball heroics with the white ball or not.

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Shimron Hetmyer (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Hetmyer has the ability to take the tournament by storm

West Indies' left-handed batsman Shimron Hetmyer was expected to go for big bucks at the auctions looking at the way he had performed in limited-overs format against India last year. The predictions proved to be true as well as Royal Challengers Bangalore roped in his services for ₹4.2 crores.

Bangalore based side required a solid middle-order batsman to support the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers and Hetmeyr could prove to be a vital inclusion.

During the Caribbean Premier League last year, the 22-year old batsman had blasted 440 runs in 12 innings at an average of 40 whereas his strike rate was around 150 which included a 49-ball century.

This will be the first opportunity for the West Indies batsman where he will be participating in the world's largest T20 tournament.

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Jonny Bairstow (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

One of the reasons behind England's rejuvenation as a limited-overs squad, Jonny Bairstow is currently rated among the finest wicketkeeper-batsman in the white ball cricket.

Bairstow was bought by the 2016 IPL champions Sunrisers Hyderabad at a price of ₹ 2.20 Crores. Looking at the Hyderabad team, it is possible that Bairstow's role will be primarily as an opening batsman.

However, it will be very interesting to see how the Hyderabad based side uses his services. If the Sunrisers do opt to go with the opening combination of Warner and Bairstow, it can definitely send jitters in the opposition camps' bowlers.

It will be interesting to see how Bairstow performs in Indian conditions as cricket fans around the globe have high expectations from this player.

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