IPL Auction 2020: 3 things we learned

#2 Fast bowlers are now hot property in franchise cricket

Pat Cummins became the costliest overseas player in IPL history

The IPL auction showed that fast bowlers are very much the flavour of the month. A lot of franchises these days want a quality pacer in their ranks - one who can send stumps cart-wheeling and make batsmen jump around in the crease.

This is largely thanks to the World Cup 2019. At that event, cricket fans saw Jofra Archer and Lockie Ferguson in full flow. They bowled close to 150 kmph on a regular basis and had batsmen in all sorts of trouble with their well-directed bouncers.

After the tournament, bowling fast was seen as a glamorous thing to do. So it did not come as a surprise when pacemen Pat Cummins (Rs 15.50 crore to KKR), Chris Morris (Rs 10 crore to RCB), Sheldon Cottrell (Rs 8.5 crore to KXIP) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (Rs 8 crore to MI) fetched huge sums at the IPL auction 2020.

Cummins in particular has the potential to finish as the top wicket-taker in IPL 2020. He is a workhorse bowler for Australia, and KKR can thus bank on him to produce match-winning as well as consistent performances throughout the season.