IPL 2018: 5 Foreign players who could be the costliest players in auction

The IPL retention was announced on Thursday and the team franchises retained their key players, who would continue to play in the 11th edition of IPL. The most awaited announcement that everyone was expecting came from the CSK camp, who retained their key players Dhoni, Raina and Jadeja.

While most of the team franchises went with the expected players, there were few surprises where key players like Gambhir and Rahane were not retained. RCB also surprised everyone with their 3rd retention Sarfaraz Khan, who was not part of the team in IPL 2017.

There are few foreign players who were not retained, and also some foreign players who are not part of the IPL team, but expect them to go full stretch in the IPL auction which will be held on 27th and 28th January.

Let us check the key foreign players who will make big impact in the auction.

#5 Chris Gayle

One of the big surprises which came after the announcement of retention list, was Chris Gayle's exclusion. The big man from Jamaica has struggled with his form, but make no mistake he is arguably the best T20 player to have played this game, and still has the ability to change the course of the game.

Royal Challengers Bangalore retained three players which includes skipper Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Sarfaraz Khan. With RCB expected to use 'right-to-match' cards for Yuzvendra Chahal and KL Rahul, Gayle would likely miss out on the chance to get retained.

RCB will have to fight with the other franchises to get Gayle in the team. With Gayle's reputation as hard hitting opener, he would attract lots of bidders in the auction.

#4 Ben Stokes

Stokes was the stand out performer for Rising Pune Supergiant team

In last year's IPL auction, Stokes was the costliest buy for Pune with Rs.14.5 crore. Stokes was worth every penny with his all round performance, scoring 312 runs with the bat and taking 12 wickets with the ball.

Pune marched into the finals of IPL 2017 with the help of Stokes performance. Since Pune and Gujarat have been terminated after 2 years of contract, Stokes will go into the auction pool.

Stokes has already shown his match winning abilities and with bigger auction expected to take place this year, there would be no limit for his price tag in the auction.

#3 Chris Lynn

Lynn had shown glimpses of his power hitting abilities in IPL 2017

Kolkata Knight Riders retained two Caribbean players Andre Russel and Sunil Narine. Surprisingly Gautam Gambhir was left out, who had led them to two IPL titles. Another notable player who missed out on retention was Chris Lynn.

Last year, Lynn had a terrific IPL, who scored 295 runs in 7 matches with an astonishing strike rate of 180 and average of nearly 50. Currently he is playing Big Bash League and is looking in red hot form.

Lynn, on his day, can destroy any bowling and can take away the game in few overs. KKR has already used quota of two foreign players, which means they can not use right-to-match' cards for Lynn, and would go for a long bid in the auction.

# 2 Evin Lewis

Evin Lewis is one of the best T20 players around the globe

Evin Lewis is already held as the next 'Gayle' of West Indies cricket and has the ability to clear the boundary with ease. Lewis is a hard hitting opener and became the third batsmen to score two hundreds in T20 internationals.

Lewis is currently no 4 batsmen in the ICC T20 rankings. In 14 T20I matches, Lewis has scored 468 runs at an average of 36, with an impressive strike rate of 154.96. More interestingly, Lewis has hit 40 sixes and 26 fours in his career, which shows his power hitting ability.

Lewis had gone unsold in the IPL auction last year, but with his consistent performance in the T20 format, he is in for a big IPL contract in this year's auction.

#1 Colin Munro

Colin Munro has been consistent in the T20 format and is in supreme touch

Colin Munro was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders team in IPL 2016 and was released next year in 2017. At that point, Munro had hardly showed any performance with the bat. He had scored 30 runs in 4 IPL matches.

Currently Munro is the number one player in ICC T20 Rankings and also became the first player to score 3 centuries in T20 internationals. Munro has the ability to clear the boundary at will and also plays spin really well.

In the recent tour of India, Munro scored swashbuckling century against India in the second T20 match and demolished the Indian bowling attack. Playing for the Trinbago Knight Riders in Caribbean Premier League 2017, Munro scored 366 runs from 13 matches at a strike-rate of 135.05 to lead his team to the 2017 League title.

With Munro in the auction pool, it should not be surprising if he ends up as the costliest player for bidding.