IPL 2018 Auctions: 5 batsmen franchises should target

Batting is an essential part of Twenty20 cricket as it sets the platform for a team’s victory. Also, it gives the bowlers enough cushion to work with. The Indian Premier League (IPL) is played on Indian wickets which serve mostly batting friendly wickets.

Ever since the inception of the event, several batsmen have lit the tournament racking up big runs. During the recent IPL retentions, batsmen of the class of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma were retained by the franchises. However, many of them missed out on securing a retention. Nevertheless, they still stand a chance of getting picked in the upcoming auctions. In our articles, we take a look at the players who the franchises should target.

#5 Brendon McCullum

Brendon McCullum, popularly named as Baz by the fans, is renowned for his fearless and innovative brand of cricket. Such was his class that he bowed out of international cricket with the fastest ton in Test cricket against Australia at Christchurch.

He has also been a brute force in the prestigious IPL while representing the Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings and the Gujarat Lions. In the tournament, he has shown consistency and likes to dictate terms to the bowlers.

The Kiwi also had an impressive 2017-18 Big Bash League (BBL) with 158 runs at a strike rate of 143. At 36 years, he might be at the fag end of his career, but he hasn’t run out of steam by any stretch of the imagination. The Otago-born cricketer deserves to be picked up in the auctions.