IPL 2018 Auction: 5 Australian players who can start a bidding war

With the 2018 IPL auction set to take place on the 27th and 28th of January, the think-tanks of various franchises are working over-time to ensure they go into the event with all their plans in place.

It has been confirmed that a pool of 578 players, including 360 Indians, will be a part of the IPL and though the home players are set to steal most of the limelight, their Australian counterparts won't be far behind. With a pool of 54 players, Australia will have the most number of overseas representatives in the auction.

Naturally, there are going to be quite a few bidding wars for them and here we list out five of the Australians who will attract the highest of bids come 27 January.

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#5 Pat Cummins

The 24-year-old pacer was at his brilliant best in the recently concluded Ashes series, which saw him bag as many as 23 English scalps. In spite of the presence of names like Mitchell starc and Josh Hazlewood, Cummins emerged as the highest wicket-taker of the series.

As far his IPL numbers are concerned, the former Delhi Daredevils player has 17 wickets in the tournament, 15 of which came in the last year's edition. The fact that he can bat a bit as well is a bonus.

#4 Marcus Stoinis

The former Kings XI Punjab all-rounder didn't have the best of IPLs last year, however, his exploits in the 2016 edition might just as well work in his favour in the auction. Stoinis scored 146 runs in seven matches in 2016 and even managed to get eight wickets.

As far as his recent form his concerned, the 28-year-old has scored 179 runs in five innings in this year's Big Bash League at a strike-rate of over 140. On top of that, Stoinis has two half-centuries in three matches of the ongoing ODI series between England and Australia.

In all probability, the all-rounder is set to go for more than a decent sum in the upcoming auction.

#3 Mitchell Starc

The Australian speedster, who missed the last couple of seasons of IPL because of injuries, has registered himself for the auction this year with his base price set at INR 2 crore. Starc has the ability to consistently clock speeds in excess of the 140-mark, irrespective of the conditions, and can be fairly difficult for any batting side to handle.

Starc was the second highest wicket-taker in the Ashes with 22 scalps and will want to keep himself fit for the T20 tournament. In two seasons of the IPL, the 27-year-old has 34 wickets to his name, 20 of which came in the 2015 edition and 14 the previous year.

When fit, Starc is easily one of the best bowlers in the world and is set to start a bidding war among the IPL franchises.

#2 Glenn Maxwell

The 29-year-old is no stranger to the IPL fans and has been consistently entertaining them for the last four editions now. Though Kings XI Punjab chose against retaining him, Maxwell's prowess with the bat and the ability to turn the match on its head in a matter of minutes make him one of the hottest names in the auction.

Maxwell's best came in the 2014 edition when he slammed 552 runs in 16 matches to drive Punjab to the final. Though he wasn't able to replicate the form in the next couple of IPLs, the right-hander did slam 310 runs at 173.18 last year.

Definitely, he is one to watch out for.

#1 Chris Lynn

The Kolkata Knight Riders star stole the limelight with his scintillating knock of 93* off 41 balls against Gujarat Lions last year. Subsequently, blistering half-centuries against RCB and KXIP ensured that Lynn had his name etched in the KKR folklore.

However, the Kolkata-based franchise opted against retaining him and instead held on to Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. This means that they won't be able to use one of their RTM cards on Lynn, which makes him one of the two most sought-after overseas players along with Ben Stokes.

The right-hander had scored a total of 295 runs last year in the IPL at an astonishing strike rate of 180.