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#2 James Neesham (Base price: ₹50 lakh)
New Zealand high-quality all-rounder James Neesham surprisingly went unsold at the IPL auction last year. But, it will be a surprise if he is not picked this time. The medium-pacer and left-handed batsman is equally capable with both the ball and ball and is an excellent fielder as well.
He made significant contributions right through the World Cup as Kiwis made their second successive final. In fact, Neesham claimed three wickets in the humdinger of a final, and also affected the run-out that took the match to the Super Over. Batting in the Super Over, he hit 13 off 5 balls including a massive six off Jofra Archer, but the Kiwis fell inches short of lifting the title.
In the 2nd T20I against England at Wellington in November this year, he smashed 42 off 22 balls to play a key role in Kiwis’ win. He has a very good T20 record -- 1,531 runs in 112 games at a strike rate of 137.80, and 106 wickets at a strike rate of 16.6. On current form, Neesham could end up being a popular choice at the auction.
#1 Marcus Stoinis (Base price: ₹1 crore)
Aussie all-rounder Marcus Stoinis may have been dropped from the ODI and T20 national squads, but he remains a force to reckon with on the domestic circuit. Stoinis was traded from Kings XI Punjab to Royal Challengers Bangalore for ₹6.2 Crore, and he did a decent job with the bat in IPL 2019 as he scored 211 runs in 10 matches for RCB at a strike rate of 135.25.crore
While Stoinis got some quick runs with the bat, he managed only two wickets with the ball. With experience under his belt, Stoinis was expected to deliver a lot more, but could not, and that was one of the key reasons behind his release from the RCB squad.
A utility cricketer, Stoinis has continued to perform well at the domestic level and has come up with some very good performances for Western Australia over the last couple of months. He was the man of the match in a close game of the Marsh Cup against Victoria in October, where he was at his best with 45 and 3 for 20, his renowned death bowling again making the difference. With a batting strike rate of 125.18 and 19.1 with the ball in T20s, Stoinis is likely to remain in demand in the format.
