Virender Sehwag names the player who he backs to fetch more than Virat in IPL 2018 auction

Former Indian opener, Virender Sehwag who is the director and mentor of the Kings XI Punjab franchise gave an insight into what the team is looking for in the IPL 2018 auction. Before going into the auction, all eight franchise will look to work on the team combination they wish to play. Questions like which player to buy, whom to RTM, etc., are deliberated in the meetings leading into the auction.

With all that to think about Sehwag divulged details on what the team is looking at when they consider a player for retention. And which player he thinks might end up being the highest paid cricketer after this year’s auction. He also gave out the reason for Axar Patel’s retention.

Ben Stokes likely to fetch more than Virat

He was asked whether any player will earn a higher contract than Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli, who was retained by Banglore for 17 crores.

During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda Sehwag said, “Yes absolutely, there are 2-3 players who can fetch more. In an auction, when a team wants a specific player and there are a couple of other teams too, a bid that starts for 2 crores can end up going even 20 crores.

“We saw last time, Mumbai Indians didn’t have the money to buy Ben Stokes so he went for 14 crores. This time, everyone has the money for Ben Stokes. So maybe, he can cross Virat Kohli’s number,” he added.

Indian players value more

When Kings XI went with Axar as their only retention, many cricket pundits were in a dilemma over the decision. Talking about that, Viru said: “I think an Indian player’s value is more in the IPL. When we recruited Axar Patel three years back, he was an uncapped player. He came to Punjab for ₹30 lacs and since then, has played for India. If he would have been part of the auction, he could have definitely fetched ₹8-10 crores. He is a useful player like Ravindra Jadeja. Axar is in this category.”

“He is a bowling all-rounder, which is necessary, and he can bowl 4 overs. He has batted extremely well in a few matches last season. He is a big hitter. For the past 2 years, we have been trying to improve his batting. Then, he can become the perfect all-rounder.”

We will use 3 RTM cards

Going by the rules set by the Governing Council for Indian Premier League (IPL) Auction, Punjab are still left with three retentions and Sehwag cleared that they will definitely use their RTM cards.

He stated, “I still have 3 RTMs remaining and I will make use of them. I think creating a team around 4 core players is a better strategy than creating a team solely around one single player.”

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