In Bowler-Friendly IPL Auction, Focus On Batsman Steve Smith

The Indian Premier League (IPL) mini-auction on Thursday could see a huge demand for bowlers even as Australian batsmen Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, and Glenn Maxwell, England's Dawid Malan, a

Among pace bowlers that could be up for grabs would be Kyle Jamieson of New Zealand, who has performed well over the last year, and England's Mark Wood who is also a handy batsman. Umesh Yadav, who was released by RCB this season, is expected to be a hot property.

"Most of the teams' spin line-up is settled. Hence it will be pace bowlers who will be up for grabs. Also, since the IPL will likely be held in India and Mumbai looks the best bet for IPL bio-bubble due to the infrastructure, fast bowlers would be needed to play a bigger role," said the official.

While both Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals (DC), the finalists this year, seem to have a settled unit, they have less money left, and that rules out the possibility of them going for too many big names.

MI, who has Rs.15.35 crore left, has four slots for foreigners left (out of seven) after they released James Pattinson, Mitchell McClenaghan, Lasith Malinga, and Nathan Coulter-Nile, all pace bowlers. They also released Sherfane Rutherford.

DC has three (out of eight) slots for foreigners left. Shakib Al Hasan, who did not play the IPL last season as he was serving International Cricket Council (ICC) ban, for failing to report a bookie approach, could also be in demand due to him being a top-ranked all-rounder in ICC rankings. KKR may look to buy the player who has played for them before.

The franchises could also show a keen interest in Indian uncapped players who showed their ability to hit hard in the T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy - Shahrukh Khan (Tamil Nadu), Vishnu Solanki (Baroda), and Mohammed Azharuddin (Kerala).

Another player who would be followed keenly at the auction would be Sachin Tendulkar's son, Arjun. He is a left-arm seamer who has played just two T20s for Mumbai. RCB, who have released Shivam Dube, could go for him.

Former India opener and two-time IPL winning captain Gautam Gambhir said that RCB would be interesting to follow at the auction.

"There are not many fast bowlers going around in the Indian circuit at the moment. So, probably, [RCB] releasing Umesh Yadav was a big surprise. Probably, they will look at someone like Glenn Maxwell because they need to get take a lot of pressure out of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers," he said on Star Sports.