The D-day is just one sleep away. The IPL 2024 auction is set to take place at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on December 19. Some star players along with young exciting talents will go under the hammer on Tuesday.
Apart from Travis Head, Pat Cummins, Gerald Coetzee, one name that will be in spotlight is Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga.
The all-rounder was picked by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise for a whopping INR 10.75 crores in last year’s auction. However, the 26-year-old failed to justify his price tag he struggled with both bat and ball.
The leg-spinning all-rounder was released by RCB ahead of the IPL 2024 auction. While many are expecting to see Wanindu Hasaranga go for big bucks, will IPL franchises take a risk?
Hasaranga’s battle with injuries
Hasaranga’s explosive batting and lethal bowling skills makes him a deadly T20 player. However, his recent stuggle with injuries raises concerns that might pose a challenge in securing a new IPL contract.
Hasaranga has not played since August due to hamstring injury. The all-rounder missed out on World Cup squad as he could not recover on time. With still no confirmation on Hasaranga’s international return, the franchises would not want to make the same mistake that Mumbai Indians did in IPL 2022 auction. The MI franchise bought England pacer Jofra Archer for INR 8 crores despite knowing that he was injured.
In the last edition, i.e IPL 2023 Archer featured in just 5 matches where he managed to scalp just 2 wickets before getting ruled out due to injury.
Although Hasarang is expected to be fit before IPL 2024, it would be interesting to see if any franchise would be willing to get the all-rounder on board.
Editors pick
