- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Australian expressman Pat Cummins was left out of the Australian tour of India this month as his rehab continues, but he’s a headliner at the 2017 Indian Premier League auction on February 20.
The next IPL tournament will start on April 3 with 72 matches through to the final on May 26.
It will be interesting to see how Cricket Australia views the move seeing the governing body has made it crystal clear Cummins is being held back to be fresh for next summer’s Ashes series at home.
He’s been bracketed with six others as the most expensive at a minimum $290,000, with Mitchell Johnson, Ishant Sharma, Eoin Morgan, Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes and Angelo Mathews.
Not even Mitchell Johnson thought for one moment he’d again play in the IPL after playing his last Test in November 2015 against the Kiwis.
But his dynamic comeback tournament in the BBL with the Perth Scorchers whetted his appetite, and showed potential suitors that he’s still got it.
He captured 13 wickets at 15.46, but the crowning glory was his record 3-3 off four overs, two of them maidens.
That accounted for the Melbourne Stars in the BBL semi, and he again bowled well in the comfortable final win over the Sydney Sixers.
But the most interesting will be the astonishing 21-year-old from Delhi Mohit Ahlawat who cracked a neat 300 not out in a T20 game this week.
It’s a bit hard to get my head around 300 off just 72 deliveries, especially as he slammed 39 sixes, and 14 fours – there’s 291 of them without leaving his crease.
That’s an average 15 runs an over on his own, or 4.167 runs per ball faced.
He had three first class games for Delhi in October 2015, but with scores of 1, 4, 0, 0, 0, it came as no surprise he was dropped.
But his current status is at the opposite end of the spectrum, his appearance alone in the IPL, especially as an Indian, will fill grounds to capacity.
For the record Chris Gayle is the official record holder in the professional ranks with 175 smashed in the IPL on 23 April 2013 with 17 sixes, and 13 fours.
The 17 sixes is also the current record, the 21 sixes by the Royal Challengers Bangalore the team record, and the total of 5-263 is also the highest score by a team.
Gayle was obviously the most dominant with Tillakaratne Dilshan scoring 33, Virat Kohli 11, AB de Villiers 31, Saurabh Tiwary 2, with Ravu Rampaul not out 0 – and sundries 11.
The quicker Chris Gayle is back playing the Big Bash the better, that awesome talent must not be denied Australian fans.