D'Arcy Short could be the perfect acquisition for Delhi Daredevils

We are still more than a couple of months away from cricket's biggest extravaganza, the Indian Premier League, however, with the auctions scheduled to take place in just over a fortnight, fan interest is steadily growing.

Just last week, each IPL team made their list of retained players public, with quite a few surprises. While the likes of AB de Villiers and Andre Russell were retained, expectedly, there were others who were surprisingly let go of by their franchise.

One franchise that opted against retaining a number of their foreign stars were the Delhi Daredevils, who released Quinton de Kock as well as Carlos Brathwaite and Sam Billings amongst others.

With de Kock now not amongst their ranks, the Daredevils will be looking to bolster their top order with a foreign recruit in the upcoming IPL auctions and one name that has done the rounds consistently of late has been that of Hobart Hurricanes sensation D'Arcy Short.

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The Daredevils decided to retain Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Chris Morris, sending the likes of Angelo Mathews, Corey Anderson and Sam Billings into the auction pool. Equipped with only two RTM cards for the upcoming auction, it is unlikely they will use one on de Kock or Billings, especially considering the fact that they had Kagiso Rabada on their roster last time around.

This means they will need to obtain the services of top-quality overseas talent and they need look no further than Short, who has lit up the BBL this year.

The heart of the matter

Short has been in sublime touch in the BBL, following up two 90s with a century in Hobart's most recent three-run victory against Brendon McCullum's Brisbane Heat.

Far and away the best player in the 2017 edition of the BBL, Short has bludgeoned his way to 406 runs from just six matches, more than 100 runs ahead of Cameron White, who is the second-leading scorer. What makes him all the more special is the fact that he is striking at just a shade under 160.

Short will fit in nicely at the top of the Delhi batting line-up, and the fact that he throws down some handy left-arm orthodox will only add to his value, considering how spinners come into play at the Kotla.

Add to that the fact that Ricky Ponting, who featured for Hobart in the first two seasons of the BBL, and is currently serving as their advisor, was named Delhi's coach for the upcoming edition of the IPL, and the odds tilt further in their favour. Ponting knows better than anyone the 27-year-old's prowess and will be itching to rope him into the Daredevils camp.

What's next?

Short's pyrotechnics have ensured the Hurricanes are within sniffing distance of a semi-final spot. Despite plenty of games still to be played, Short has enough wiggle room so even a couple of failures should not knock him off the top spot on the leading run-getters' list.

He is set to command quite a hefty price in the IPL auction that will take place on January 27 and 28 at Bangalore, and could, in all likelihood, trigger a bidding war.

Author's take

Short can be extremely destructive at the top of the order and is ideally suited to the shortest format of the game. His game has peaked at the perfect time and IPL scouts would no doubt have awakened to his talents. The Ponting connection should be enough for Delhi to secure his services for this season of the IPL and he could be the X-factor they have yearned for all these years.