Last Updated on 4 years ago by Charbel Coorey

Cricket News: 4 overseas left-arm pacers that teams will target in the IPL 2022 Auction | Left-armers on teams’ radars in IPL 2022 Mega Auction

The IPL 2022 Mega Auction is upon us and teams have planned what they are going to do at the big event.

With a lack of quality Indian left-arm pacers available in the auction, teams will be looking to add the left-armers from the overseas bag to give a different dimension to their squads. Like left-handed batters, left arm pacers also bring an X-factor to the team.

In this age of matchups and set pieces, it is necessary for a team to have a ready left-arm pace option. Thus here we will be discussing four such candidates that franchises can target for their bowling department.

Reece Topley

England’s left-arm pacer has been in tremendous form of late since his return to England’s white-ball set up last year. Topley’s height and ability to bowl tight lines will catch bidders in the upcoming auction.

He was a part of England’s T20 World Cup squad but couldn’t make the 11. Afterwards, he represented Melbourne Renegades in the BBL 11 and bowled extremely well for the Melbourne-based franchise picking nine wickets in eight outings.

Recently, he enjoyed a productive tour against West Indies, claiming three wickets and returning with an economy rate of below six from his three outings. Topley has the skill to pull off his variations and yorkers consistently making him an effective option for the franchises.

Fazalhaq Farooqi

Fazalhaq Farooqi is not a very high-profile name like Mitchell Starc or Trent Boult but he has shown that he can be a fine investment for T20 cricket. The Afghanistan fast bowler was one of Chennai Super Kings’ net bowlers last year and he troubled the likes of Robin Uthappa, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Suresh Raina in the nets with his raw pace and well-disguised slower ones.

In the Abu Dhabi T10 league last year, one could see his aptness for the shorter format. Farooqi is adept with his variations and has many in his armory. He has the hunger to perform and win games, and if given an opportunity at 50 lakhs, he will surely try to make it count.

Jason Behrendorff

The left-arm Aussie seamer was a replacement for Hazlewood in the Indian leg of IPL 2021. However, he didn’t get a game but still got to rub shoulders with IPL legends like MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina.

Behrendorff was one of the main reasons why Perth Scorchers won the BBL 11 as he bagged 16 wickets in 13 games at an excellent economy rate of 7.32. Not exactly like Mitchell Starc, but with the new ball he can be as deadly as anyone in the world as he has got the skill to move the ball upfront and make life difficult for the batters early in the innings.

And because of his height his slower ones, he will be effective on Indian wickets. Though not an out-and-out quick, Behrendorff’s ability to bowl accurately can prove to be very handy for a captain.

Trent Boult

In the last year or so, no left-arm pacer has been as dominant as Trent Boult in T20 cricket. He really has taken his game to another level since the start of 2020.

And, he surely is on the radar of many franchises.

The ex-Mumbai Indians bowler can bowl at any phase of the 20-over game; he can strike with the new ball and he can take wickets at the back end as well.

In 2020, he led Mumbai Indians to the title with a player of the match performance in the final. During IPL 2021, he bagged 13 wickets at an economy rate of under eight. His accuracy and variations with the white ball will enable him to fetch heavy bids in the auction.

Written by Vaibhav Tripathi. Follow Vaibhav on Twitter today.