IPL 2020: 3 players who were lucky to be bought

The Indian Premier League changes the lives of many cricketers in terms of both, international recognition and getting thick pockets. Every year many cricketers get lucky to play in the IPL despite the limited services that they offer, while the deserving ones are left out for no particular reasons. This is what the pressure in the minds of the team owners, their coaches and analysts can lead to at the mega auctions.

Very often, there are budget constraints on the grounds of which the wish lists are not fulfilled and the franchises settle for a second-string player. In the IPL 2020 auction held at Kolkata a few days ago, a similar event occurred. Many T20 specialists like Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Adam Zampa, Evin Lewis, Colin Ingram, Martin Guptill, Carlos Brathwaite, Andile Phehlukwayo, and many others went unsold while there were a few picks that raised eyebrows of cricket fans and experts. Here are 3 of those players who were lucky to get picked by an IPL franchise.

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#3 Josh Hazlewood

The Australian fast bowler is a Test-match specialist and hasn't played a T20 game of any kind since 2016. Josh Hazlewood has not been a part of Australia's ODI setup for over a year now and Chennai Super Kings putting a bid on him came as a surprise. Of the 30 T20s he has played, Hazlewood has picked 37 wickets at an economy rate of 7.77.

The 28-year-old has limited skills to offer in the shortest format with no specialisation of bowling at the death. He is an established red-ball cricketer well known for his consistent line and length and thus lacks the weapons like a yorker or a slower ball. Considering the above reasons, Hazlewood might have found himself lucky to get a breakthrough with a contract in the cash-rich league.

#2 Isuru Udana

Isuru Udana made his T20I debut back in 2009

One of the biggest surprises was Isuru Udana getting a buyer in the IPL. Royals Challengers Bangalore (RCB) bagged him at his base price of INR 50 lacs at the tail end of the auction, which seemed like an obligatory move of filling their overseas spot.

Udana is considered as an all-rounder who bowls left-arm seam but has been very ordinary in T20Is for Sri Lanka. In addition to that, he doesn't possess the mastery of bowling at the death, a characteristic that RCB would have loved to have in him.

In 27 T20Is for Sri Lanka, Udana has scalped 23 wickets at an economy rate of 8.51 whereas, with the bat in hand, he only averages 22 though he has a strike rate of nearly 150. The possibility of him bringing balance to the Bangalore franchise's setup looks bleak.

#1 Oshane Thomas

Oshane made his IPL debut last year for Royals

Oshane Thomas started his professional career promisingly in Caribbean Premier League last year when Chris Gayle discovered his raw pace and included him in the squad. He later went on to play for the West Indies with a memorable debut series against India where he scalped both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in a single innings.

Rajasthan Royals then signed him to play for them in 2019 and he turned out to be mediocre. Thomas has a tendency to go for plenty of runs and so, the Royals still backing him came as a surprise. In his short T20I career of 10 matches, Thomas has picked 9 wickets at an expensive economy rate of 8.81. In addition to that, his recent form has been sub-standard following which he lost his place from the West Indian squad in both T20Is as well as the ODIs.