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IPL 2021, the fourteenth edition of the Indian Premier League, is set to begin on April 9 and is expected to be another blockbuster season. T20 stars - Indians as well as overseas - are all set to light up the stage at this year's IPL.
Overseas players play an important role in squad construction. Generally, overseas power-hitters, pace-bowling all-rounders, and fast-bowlers are in high demand, as not too many Indian options are available in the market for these roles.
IPL teams are allowed a maximum of eight overseas players in the squad and four in the playing XI. Thus, along with the price factor, teams need to be shrewd as the number of players and spots are limited.
Overseas players also enjoy big financial advantages, especially in mini-auctions. In IPL 2021, Royal Challengers Banglore have spent the highest amount on overseas players while Mumbai Indians, the lowest. MI has an excellent Indian core, and thus, they don't need to spend a lot of money on overseas players.
After RCB, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals are the next two highest-spending teams. RCB has spent much of their money on AB de Villiers, Kyle Jamieson, and Glenn Maxwell; KKR on Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Pat Cummins; and RR on Ben Stokes, Chris Morris, and Jofra Archer.
A huge sum of money can also bring huge responsibility and pressure to perform. The IPL is such a big stage that it is quite hard to live up to the expectations at times. Here, we take a look at five overseas players to watch out for at IPL 2021.
IPL 2021: 5 Overseas players to watch out for
1. Shimron Hetmyer (DC)
Shimron Hetmyer has failed to perform well enough in the IPL and in his T20 career in general. His T20 numbers don't reflect his true potential. In 80 T20 games, Hetmyer averages under 25 and has a strike rate of around 130 with just nine 50+ scores. He is certainly better than what these numbers suggest.
Teams' inability to use him right has been one of the reasons behind his IPL failures. RCB gave the West Indian just five games in the 2019 season, and his role was constantly changed. Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, had him bat at No. 5 or No. 6 in eight out of 11 innings.
Hetmyer's strength is his hitting ability against spinners. For the Guyana Amazon Warriors, the southpaw has done reasonably well in the Caribbean Premier League. The pitches in the CPL assist spinners, and the 24-years-old has displayed his skills back home. Hetmyer has a pretty good batting record in ODIs in Asia too.
Since Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of IPL 2021, Hetmyer can be promoted to bat at number 3. His role should ideally be to go after the spinners and bat as an aggressor in the middle-overs. Hetmyer isn't bad against the pacers either. However, well-directed high pace might limit him at times.
2. Adam Milne (MI)
Mumbai Indians' squad-building strategy in the pace department is pretty clear. More often than not, MI has two overseas pacers in their playing XI. Besides having arguably the world's best pacer in Jasprit Bumrah, MI has three overseas pacers - Trent Boult, Adam Milne, and Nathan Coulter-Nile - in their squad.
Trent Boult did plenty of damage with the new ball last season, so he is expected to start at IPL 2021 as well. Milne should be preferred over Coulter-Nile as the former is more reliable in the death overs. The right-arm fast-bowler has done quite well for himself in T20 leagues since 2017.
In comparison to Milne, Coulter-Nile was more expensive in the death overs in Big Bash League 2020 as well. While Milne's economy was 8.36, Coulter-Nile leaked runs at 9.30 RPO in the tournament.
Milne's pace can be his X-factor. With Boult and Bumrah operating in the powerplay, Milne can be used as an enforcer in the middle-overs. If Milne is shrewd with his use of variations and nails the hard-length and yorkers well, Mumbai will be in good space in the competition. However, his fitness might be a bit of a problem, and MI should manage him well.
3. Moeen Ali (CSK)
CSK didn't have a good time at IPL 2020, failing to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in IPL history. Their batsmen's low scoring rates was one of the main talking points last season. The CSK batsmen were indeed quite slow, with only RCB batsmen having a lower strike rate than the former.
Apart from the overall low scoring rate, CSK batsmen were slow against spinners in particular. The MS Dhoni-led team had the lowest strike rate against the slow bowlers in the non-death overs (1-16).
CSK addressed this problem in the auction as they recruited Moeen Ali, a fine middle-overs aggressor. The southpaw is an excellent hitter of spin-bowling, unarguably the best in the CSK camp at the moment. Ali's power and bat-swing are his major strengths. His hitting prowess against leg-spinners, left-arm orthodox spinners, and medium-pacers will be quite useful.
Moeen's off-spin bowling can also be useful according to match-ups. CSK has four matches in Delhi, and hence, his role might be greater in those games, given that the pitches assist spinners.
Moeen's efficient usage will yield better returns. CSK, under MS Dhoni, is known to bring the best out of players. Thus, Moeen could be backed to have a good time in IPL 2021.
4. Glenn Maxwell (RCB)
RCB's batting unit was below-par last season. Among their batsmen who faced at least 25 balls in the last season, only AB de Villiers (158.74) had a strike rate over 125 in IPL 2020. Their batsmen also failed to score enough boundaries as their balls-per-boundary ratio (7.21) was the worst in the competition.
Their batsmen struggled quite a bit against spinners in the middle-overs. Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers weren't good enough against spinners, and the rest also failed to step up. RCB failed to fix this problem throughout the season, and thus, they turned to Glenn Maxwell for IPL 2021.
Mike Hesson and co went all out to buy Glenn Maxwell in the auction. Maxwell's returns in the past few IPL seasons fail to inspire any confidence. However, the Australian is a skilled T20 batsman. He is among the world's best middle-order batsmen in international limited-overs cricket, especially in T20Is.
The right-handed batsman can be a nice fit in the Bangalore-based side's middle-order. As an aggressor in the middle-overs, Maxwell brings the X-factor that RCB's batting line-up so desires ahead of IPL 2021. The Red Army has seven games in Kolkata and Mumbai, and thus, Maxwell becomes a crucial player in those games, given his ability to clear the boundary at will on batting-friendly decks. Also, if the decks are flat in Ahmedabad (four games), he may just have a great season.
The 32-year-old is powerful and plays unorthodox shots like switch-hits, reverse sweeps, and other aerial shots like second nature. Maxwell is also a good part-time off-spinner and can be pretty useful against southpaws if used well.
5. Fabian Allen (PBKS)
Punjab Kings' middle-order (barring Nicholas Pooran) was among the worst in IPL 2020. Only RCB's batsmen (batting position: 5-7) performed worse than PBKS'. The Punjab batsmen averaged 17.72 with a mediocre strike rate of 115.38.
Anil Kumble and co acquired Fabian Allen at a base price of 75 Lakh INR in the auction. It could potentially be the biggest steal of the auction. However, it will be interesting to see where they fit him in.
The right-handed batsman is quite useful against medium-pacers in the lower order. He might be limited by quality away-turning spin bowling and high-end pace, but the Kings may just get their money's worth in the former SRH all-rounder.
Allen is among the best middle-order batsmen in the Caribbean Premier League since 2018. Even though he missed out in the last edition of the CPL, a low-scoring tournament, his potential is there for all to see. Averaging 37.44 in his 14-innings CPL career, the Jamaica-born cricketer has scored 337 runs at a strike rate of over 181.
Among middle-order batsmen who've scored at least 200 runs in the CPL in this time frame, only Dwayne Bravo has bettered Allen's strike rate and balls-per-boundary ratio (3.8). Allen has batted in tough situations on a few occasions, but his temperament has helped him.
Allen's left-arm orthodox spin-bowling is also impressive against RHBs, maintaining a miserly economy rate.
The IPL is certainly better than the CPL quality-wise, and Allen might not find it easy in India. But he can be mighty useful against a few of the other teams, at least.
PBKS has two games at Chepauk where Allen could come in very handy. Also, depending on the pitches on other venues, especially in Ahemdabad, Allen might get a few games at IPL 2021.
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