IPL 2019: Top 5 Windies players who can have a major impact in IPL

The recently concluded IPL auction, which was held on 18 December in the Pink City, was full of drama as many big names like Brendon McCullum, Shaun Marsh, and Dale Steyn went unsold. Meanwhile, uncapped Indian Varun Chakravarthy was bagged by Kings XI Punjab for ₹ 8.4 crores.

Only nine Windies players took part in the auction. Out of these, six found buyers while the other three went unsold. The biggest name to miss out was Jason Holder. Other than Holder, bowler Khary Pierre and all-rounder Fabian Allen are the two players from the Caribbean who went unsold.

Youngsters Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer fetched ₹ 4.20 crores each while Carlos Brathwaite was the most expensive Windies player sold in the 2019 IPL Auction as he was picked by KKR for ₹ 5 crores.

The three other Caribbean players who went under the hammer were Keemo Paul, Oshane Thomas, and Sherfane Rutherford who were picked for ₹ 50 lac, ₹ 1.10 crores and ₹ 2 crores respectively.

Six Windies players were retained by different franchisees. Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Evin Lewis, and Kieron Pollard were the players who were retained.

Here are the five players who can cause plenty of problems for their oppositions.

#5 Shimron Hetmyer

The 22-year-old batsman is already touted as a next big thing in West Indies cricket. Before becoming part of the IPL auction, Hetmyer earned his place in the West Indies team. He led their U-19 team to their first-ever U19 World Cup title in 2016 and that brought him in the limelight.

There was a lot of buzz before the auctions as to which franchise will purchase Hetmyer and now he has been roped in by Kohli-led RCB for the 12th edition of IPL. RCB bought Hetmyer for ₹ 4.20 crores and it seems he will likely be their first choice to open the innings for them along with Parthiv Patel.

Looking at his recent games, especially against India, the youngster is expected to play a major role for RCB and might turn their fate in the upcoming IPL season.

#4 Sunil Narine

Sunil Narine has been a revelation for KKR

Sunil Narine is as amazing as his hairstyle. In the early days of his career, he was just a bowler and now he is known as an all-rounder who can open with both bat and ball. His batting talent was discovered in IPL while playing for KKR under Gambhir in 2017 edition.

The 30-year-old has played 299 T20 matches and scored 1694 runs with a strike rate of 147.04. With the ball, he is even better as he has picked 342 wickets at an extremely impressive economy rate of 5.95 runs an over. These figures are a testament to his capability.

In the 2014 edition of Caribbean Premier League, Narine shocked the world by producing the first ever maiden super over. KKR is always positive about Narine and expects him to give his best every time he plays for them. He is capable of changing the fate of the game from the very beginning whether it is with bat or with his lethal spin bowling.

#3 Andre Russell

Andre Russell is the game changer for KKR

Another Caribbean from KKR who can have a major impact in the upcoming season of IPL is Andre Russell. He is a big hitter and a right-arm fast bowler. After picking Carlos Brathwaite in the recently held auction, the Dinesh Karthik-led team now have a Windies all-rounder trio. All of them are big hitters with the bat and game changers with the ball.

Andre Russell is very popular in T20s and has played 268 matches till date, scoring over 4000 runs with an impressive strike rate of 167.35. With the ball, he has 244 wickets to his name with his career best being 4/11.

The 30-year-old Jamaican produced some crucial performances for KKR in the last season of IPL leading the team to the victory in those games single-handedly.

Andre Russell can be expected to play a major role in KKR's success in the upcoming IPL.

#2 Dwayne Bravo

Bravo has been the poster boy of CSK Franchise

Bravo is a player who is loved by all the audience no matter which team he plays for. The Windies player is popular among T20 fans, especially CSK fans, as he is one of the entertainers of the game.

The all-rounder recently retired from the International cricket and he is continuing to play in different T20 leagues across the globe.

The Windies player is so popular in these leagues that he has played over 400 T20 matches in his entire career. Bravo is equally good with bat and ball as he scored 6082 runs and clinched 460 wickets.

The 35-year-old is a savior for CSK if their batting collapses. He is also a death-over specialist and most batsmen found it difficult to pick his slower-ones. He will be looking forward to having an impressive IPL season with CSK in 2019.

#1 Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle is one of the most successful players in IPL

Chris Gayle is one of the best hitters this game has ever produced. Gayle, who is known for his quirky sense of humor, was unsold in the first round of the last IPL auction. However, Sehwag bought him for Kings XI Punjab for ₹ 2 crores.

Kings XI Punjab retained Gayle ahead of the upcoming season. He is indeed worth retaining as he has more than 12000 runs in 349 innings with his career best in T20s being an unbeaten 175.

Gayle has many big numbers to his name in T20s. In his T20 career, the Jamaican player has hit 892 sixes and 925 fours which contributes over 75% of his runs. He has scored 21 centuries and 75 half-centuries. Gayle has also picked 79 wickets acting as a part-time spinner.

The numbers are enough to prove how big an impact this player can have especially when it comes to T20s. If Gayle gets his touch in the upcoming IPL, he will surely play a major role for Kings XI Punjab's success this season.