5 Foreign Players to Watch Out in IPL 2022

The Indian T20 League is all set to commence from March 26 and the cricket fans, home and worldwide, just cannot contain their excitement.

After the schedule was announced, many franchise fans were eager to see who plays who and when as this season’s tourney promises one exciting ride.

The tournament opener will see Team Chennai led by the formidable MS Dhoni up against Team Kolkata, in Mumbai. Most of the league matches will be held in Mumbai and Pune.

This season sees two new teams introduced to the roster – Lucknow and Gujarat.

The two sides will be captained by KL Rahul & Hardik Pandya, respectively. In the auction, many heads turned, and eyes rolled out as teams battled to sign-up the player.

The Indian U-19 side won the recently held U-19 World Cup and no wonder some of the players earn a contract.

However, the major attractions are the foreign stars. As the countdown begins, we jot down 5 major foreign stars to look out for in the upcoming t20 league tournament:

David Willey (Bangalore)

One of England cricket’s most top-rated all-rounders in T20 cricket, David Willey has garnered attention not only with his bowling but also with his handy batting down the order.

This could have been one of the reasons why Team Bangalore purchased him for ₹2 crore at the 2022 Auction.

Willey is no stranger to the Indian T20 League, having represented the Chennai side back in 2018.

Despite not being a regular in the English side, David Willey continues to play T20 cricket in various other tournaments.

Bangalore’s downfall was that they were unable to bat down the order and this where Willey could come in handy.

The Englishman also had a decent run in the Pakistan Super League.

Tim David (Mumbai)

Singapore isn’t a cricket side that is mostly seen in World Cups or major series, but one of their star attractions is surely the gung-ho, Tim David.

One of the most talented T20 cricketers to take the stage by storm, Tim David has conquered most of the major T20 leagues including Big Bash, Caribbean Premier League and PSL to name a few.

Now, the Singapore-born has arrived on the Indian shores to showcase his talent. David has previously played in the Indian T20 League but hardly featured for Bangalore making just a single appearance and scored three runs.

However, he has improved upon his batting skills, and it was all to see in the PSL where he amassed 221 runs in 7 games at a strike rate of 206.54.

In last year’s CPL, he was the third-highest run-getter with 282 runs in 12 games. Mumbai really has a player on their hands!

Marcus Stoinis (Lucknow)

The Aussie all-rounder is not new to the Indian T20 League. However, his destructive batting and slick bowling makes Stoinis a dependable T20 player.

Team Lucknow bought Stoinis for ₹9.2 crores due to his good showing at the T20 World Cup and the Big Bash League.

His Indian T20 League record is also commendable with having played 56 games, scoring 914 runs at a strike rate of 136.

He has also scalped 30 wickets too! Team Lucknow will want the Aussie all-rounder to come good with his batting and bowling if they are to do well in this season’s T20 tournament.

KL Rahul is a versatile captain and with a decent squad at the helm, Lucknow can have a fair crack at the T20 League trophy.

Matthew Wade (Gujarat)

With a World Cup title to his name, just like most Australians, Matthew Wade was one of the sought-after names in the Auction list.

His blitzkrieg against Shaheen Afridi in the 2021 T20 World Cup elevated his status as a prominent T20 batter.

The Wicketkeeper had a decent Big Bash league and that is why he was roped in by Gujarat side for ₹2.4 crore.

With Jason Roy opting out, the 34-year-old veteran could come in handy in the middle-order or opening the batting for Team Gujarat.

Wade will hope he has a good Indian T20 League outing as he will look to cement his place in the World Cup squad for the T20 World Cup later this year.

Romario Shepherd (Hyderabad)

West Indies are one of the most dangerous sides in T20 cricket and is mostly down to their all-rounders and batters.

Romario Shepherd was bought by Team Hyderabad for ₹7.75 crore, although his base price was only ₹75 lakh!

The lanky all-rounder did not have a good outing in the recent tour to India but his T20 statistics do tell another story.

Shepherd has scalped 55 wickets in 47 games at a strike rate of 14.8 and bats well down the order.

Hyderabad would want his all-round skills to come to the party as the orange army look to make a bid for the T20 title.

Conclusion:

The Indian T20 League has seen major foreign imports that have set the world on fire but this year’s tournament promises to be an exciting one with some new faces and old ones returning to new franchises.

With Indian stars sharing the limelight, the foreign stars could see them take centre stage as the T20 World Cup looms large.

Many of them could use this tournament as a benchmark and if they do shine, a national call-up could do them a world of good.

Disclaimer – The above article is for informational purpose only. We at AIO Games are nowhere related to BCCI or the IPL