IPL 2021: 3 Teams that can pick Dawid Malan in the auction

Dawid Malan has been at the top of his game in the past couple of years. At this moment, he is the no.1 ranked T20I batsman in the ICC rankings and presents a solid case for himself ahead of the IPL 2021 auction. When several players would go under the hammer on February 18 in Chennai, Malan would be one of the players who the franchises would be really interested in. 

The left-handed batsman from England so far has played 19 T20Is and scored 855 runs. His batting average is 53.44 and a strike-rate that stands at 150. In the 19 innings which he has played for England in T20Is, he has managed to score 50 or more in ten of them, which includes a hundred against New Zealand and an unbeaten 99 against South Africa. 

Considering his numbers, Malan is one of the most talked-about players ahead of the auction. So, we at CricTracker decided to add our own speculation to the question, regarding which team is more likely to go for the batsman. We have chosen teams, considering their needs ahead of the auction and the number of overseas players which they can buy.

Here are the top three teams that can pick Dawid Malan in IPL 2021 auction:

1. Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders are one of the IPL teams who follow proper structure when it comes to picking up their squad in an auction. Each year, they pick specific players who they have in their mind and go for them. They have great team-building capabilities, something which has come to good effect in the past. 

Something which Kolkata lacks is an overseas top-order batsman. With Sunil Narine not guaranteed to open in the upcoming season, Knight Riders might feel that Dawid Malan’s addition to their side can benefit them in a lot of ways. With Shubman Gill at the top, KKR might consider having a right-left combination at the top just for a tactical advantage. 

One more thing, which brings KKR as a favourite to go after Malan, is their captain. Eoin Morgan who is set to lead the KKR team in the upcoming season has shown faith in Malan at the international level and also shared a dressing room with the batsman at his former country club, Middlesex. These factors seem enough to say Malan could end up singing Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo for the IPL 2021.