IPL 2019: 5 players with surprising base prices

The twelfth edition of the Indian Premier League will not begin officially until March 2019, but the excitement and anticipation surrounding the event will begin with the player auctions set to take place in Jaipur on December 18th, 2018.

All the franchises have retained a list of players and released others that they deem surplus to requirements, and will now look to participate in the auctions with gusto and fill out their respective squads with fresh blood.

The IPL governing council has also released the complete list of players available for the auction. A total of 346 cricketers, of which 227 are Indians, along with their base prices, have been included in the list.

Some key names include England's Sam Curran and Chris Woakes, South Africa's Colin Ingram, New Zealand's Brendon McCullum and Corey Anderson, who all have the highest base price at 2cr., while players like Jaydev Unadkat (1.5cr), Wriddhiman Saha, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma (1cr each) are some of the "costliest" Indians to feature (all prices in INR)

We have definitely noticed the players with the highest base prices, and also those at the other end of the list. Let us now take a look at five cricketers who surprised us with their base prices - either being too high for their current form, or too low.

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#5 Shimron Hetmyer (West Indies, Base Price: 50Lakhs INR)

Shimron Hetmyer has a base price of 50 lakhs

The 21-year old cricketer from Guyana is a prospect set for a bright future. The batsman showed his skills in the recent ODI series against India, after which he batted well for the West Indies in their recent Test loss to Bangladesh. He made his mark in the Carribean Premier League, which in turn catalyzed his pathway to the national squad.

In 19 ODIs, the youngster has made 758 runs at an average above 39, and a strike rate above 107. He was the top-scorer for the Windies in the recent series against India, where he made 259 runs in 5 innings, at an average of 51.8, including a fine 106(78) and a 94(64), the former in a winning cause and the latter in a tied effort, the two games that went in favour for the visitors.

Hetmyer has set his base price at just 50Lakh INR, while we think he was worth more than what he has quoted. With that being said, he will now definitely attract a bidding war amongst various franchises on the big day.

#4 Nicholas Pooran (West Indies, Base Price: 75Lakhs INR)

Nicholas Pooran has a base price of 75 lakhs

This one surprised us more than Hetmyer. Nicholas Pooran is a familiar name among cricket's big-hitters these days, and he has lived up to the expectations in gigantic fashion.

Pooran was the top-scorer in the recent Dubai T-10 League, and also the batsman with most sixes. Prior to this, he also made himself known through the various seasons of the CPL. He also smashed a 25-ball-53 in one of the recent T20I games versus India.

Nicholas Pooran will go for sale at a base price of 75Lakhs, but anyone who has been observing his level of big-hitting will know how valuable an addition he is to the squad, and hence it won't be any surprise if he gets sold at an amount several times his base price. In fact, the meagre base price of 75Lakhs surprises us much more.

#3 Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka, Base Price: 200Lakhs INR)

Sri Lanka veteran Angelo Matthews has a base price of 200 lakhs

Angelo Mathews has undoubtedly been one of Sri Lanka's premium all-rounders for the current decade, but the 31-year-old's numbers are far from convincing when it comes to the shortest and most explosive format of cricket. In fact, Mathews is currently ranked 84th among ICC's T20I batsmen and 83rd among ICC's T20I bowlers.

Those are average numbers, and below-average numbers when one brings up his base price of 2cr INR at the 2019 IPL auctions. The Sri Lankan, who played for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2009, Pune Warriors between 2011 and 2013 and then in Delhi Daredevils in 2018, has been out of the IPL without a squad more number of times than the sum of the years he has actually been a part of it (which were all sub-par outings at best, by the way).

Yet, he has surprised almost everyone by deciding to include himself in the highest price bracket, among the likes of Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Brendon McCullum, Shaun Marsh, and so who are all fine performers.

It will be interesting to see if any sides decide to engage in a bidding contest for Mathews.

#2 Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka, Base Price: 200Lakhs INR)

Lasith Malinga has a base price of 200cr

Once the world's finest strike-bowlers in limited-overs cricket over the last decade, the Sri Lankan veteran has lost some of his sheen in the past few years. Lasith Malinga still holds the record for picking up the most scalps in the history of the IPL, but right now he is just a shadow of the erstwhile Malinga who was constantly among wickets for his Mumbai Indians side, where he has spent all of his years in India's biggest International T20I league.

Malinga is now eyeing a comeback in the IPL, and he has made himself available at a minimum base price of 2cr INR, which we doubt is the right way to go about it. There are several pacers available at 20Lakhs, 50Lakhs, 75Lakhs, even 1cr, but Malinga has chosen to go with a bit expensive tag on himself, and with his recent numbers showing a downward spiral, it just doesn't seem positive.

We are waiting for the action to unfurl on December 18th, so that we'll know whether the Mumbai Indians or any other side will be ready to snap up this man with the amount he has quoted, or more.

#1 Shivam Dubey (India, Base Price: 20Lakh INR)

Shivam Dubey has a base price of just 20 lakhs

Shivam Dubey is a rather unknown name in case of people who just scratch the surface in terms of keeping in touch with the game, but for those who involve in it deeper, the boy is nothing short of masterclass.

The Mumbai youngster has played 5 First-class matches so far and has a batting average greater than 64, including two hundreds. He is the perfect all-rounder, having picked up 21 scalps in these five games. In the shortest format, Shivam Dubey has an experience of 13 T20s for Mumbai, where his batting strike rate is close to 150. He has also taken 10 wickets.

He has set his base price at just 20Lakhs INR, and with many teams keenly on the lookout for bowling all-rounders with a penchant for shots, Shivam first their search filters very well. The quoted base price seems low for him, and he is definitely going to create a bidding war among franchises on the d-day.