A look at the top 5 overseas debutants who can set the IPL 2019 on fire with their performances.
The IPL 2019 will be no different as the franchises picked up a number of cricketers who will be playing the tournament for the first time and with names like Shimron Hetmyer and Sam Curran joining IPL, one can expect the quality of the competition to improve massively. Here are the Top 5 overseas debutants to watch out for this year –
Shimron Hetmyer
The 22-year-old was touted as one of the biggest prospects ahead of this year’s auction and it came as no surprise that Royal Challengers Bangalore paid a hefty fee of Rs 4.20 crore to acquire his services. The West Indies international showed his class during the ODI series against India when he recorded scores of 106 and 94 in the first two matches of the series. At present, he has scored 517 runs in 21 T20 matches with an impressive strike rate of 142.42.
Sam Curran
The fans were forced to take notice of the young all-rounder after he produced a number of brilliant performances during India’s tour of England. He won the Man of the Tournament award after scoring 273 runs in seven innings and took 11 Indian wickets in eight innings. Kings XI Punjab paid Rs 7.20 crore for the youngster in this year’s auction and he will surely be central to their plans in this edition.
Oshane Thomas
Thomas was another young West Indies star who made his name during the ODI series against India in 2018 as he troubled the Indian batsmen with his pace and bounce. He was picked by Rajasthan Royals for a bargain price of Rs 1.10 crore but it will be unwise to discount him as anything less than a serious threat. With 20 wickets from 20 T20s, he has been quite successful till now and he would look to continue his run of form.
Ashton Turner
The 26-year-old went to Rajasthan Royals for his base price of Rs 50 lakhs but it can turn out to be the steal of the season considering his form on the Australian domestic circuit. With 378 from 14 matches, he is currently the top scorer for Perth Scorchers and he became the first cricketer this season to benefit from the Big Bash League rule that award an automatic six for balls that hit a stadium’s roof.
Nicholas Pooran
The wicket-keeper grabbed the headlines in Caribbean Premier League (CPL) after slamming a 24-ball-54 for Trinidad and Tobago Steel against the Guyana Amazon Warriors. With Kings XI Punjab paying Rs 4.20 crore in the auction, a lot of focus will be on the youngster and it will also be a great chance for him to showcase his talent. He enjoys a strike rate of 144.91 in T20s and that is great news for his franchise.
