There will be a bidding war for Avesh Khan at the IPL mega auction: R Ashwin

With the IPL 2022 mega auction just a day away, all the existing eight teams have named their mandatory player retentions well in advance. Now, all of them would be looking to start afresh in the two-day event that will be held in Bengaluru.

While many players were retained by their respective franchises for showcasing outstanding performances not just last year but prior to that as well, there have been some of them who were released despite having made a tremendous impact and one of those names is young pace sensation Avesh Khan.

Despite proving his mettle with the ball in hand in IPL 2021 with 24 scalps from 16 matches and finishing as the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament, Avesh was not retained by the Delhi Capitals for the upcoming season as they decided to retain the likes of wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw and Anrich Nortje. Meanwhile, Avesh’s former DC teammate R Ashwin has said that the teams will bid for him aggressively at the mega auction.

There is definitely going to be a bidding war for Avesh Khan: Ravichandran Ashwin

“There is definitely going to be a bidding war for Avesh Khan. No doubt about that. Guarantee. Just like how Vijay Mallya fought for me with CSK in 2010, I can picture a Parth Jindal or a Kiran Rao fighting it out for Avesh Khan this year. With whom will they fight? Well, that might be any team,” said Ashwin while speaking on his official YouTube channel.

The senior off-spinner was also one of the players to be released by the 2020 finalists months before the IPL 2022 mega auction. Ashwin was roped in by the franchise for the 2020 season after Punjab had parted ways with him.

Avesh Khan, on the other hand, made his IPL debut in 2017 and in the last five seasons, has gone on to play 25 games and take 29 wickets averaging 25.83 and an economy of 8.23. It would be interesting to see whether the Delhi Capitals would give him another chance in the upcoming season owing to his consistent performance last year.