IPL Auction: ‘Sam Curran, Ben Stokes, Cameron Green very hot' - Gayle predicts franchises to break ‘16-17 crore barrier’

England allrounder Sam Curran is the West Indian legend's top pick for the mini auction

Seated on a glittering red high-back throne chair, Chris Gayle remarked his playing future “looks bright until I am 50”. “I’m still active, still fresh, still good-looking, best body in the world,” Gayle, right leg crossed to the left and the hair locked and beaded, deadpanned.

Sam Curran, Cameron Green, and Ben Stokes

Even if some of those statements were up for discussion, there’s unquestionably a large imprint of the self-proclaimed Universe Boss on the Indian Premier League (IPL). Having last played in the IPL in 2021, the West Indies and IPL legend is “pretty much on a break” this year. Transitioning from playing (bossing, often) the game to commenting on it, Gayle, while also summoning his musical nerve for it, forecast some “money, money, money” for Sam Curran, Cameron Green and Ben Stokes at the IPL mini-auction in Kochi.

IPL auction: Sam Curran’s the buzz word in Kochi

“Those three guys are very, very hot. With England winning the T20 World Cup as well, it’s going to play a big part in that especially for Curran and Stokes,” Gayle, in the city as part of JioCinema’s expert panel for Friday’s auctions, said.

“It’s a possibility there might be some records broken in this auction. Teams who have the money are surely going to go hard for these guys. They’re the talk of the town. Don’t be too surprised if you see someone among these go over the 16-17 (crore) barrier,” he added, referring to IPL’s costliest purchase ever of Rs16.25 crore in Chris Morris for the 2021 season.

In choosing Curran as his hypothetical top pick, Gayle labelled the 24-year-old all-rounder as the MVP of the 2022 World Cup final won by England. “Sam is younger among the lot. And IPL (teams) tends to look for the future. The availability of these players will be a factor as well.”

Two players that won’t be around any longer are Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, both moving on to coaching roles for their respective franchises Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. Along with Gayle who amassed 4,965 runs across 142 matches striking at nearly 149, the West Indies stars were sacrosanct to the IPL, lighting up the league with their Caribbean colour, flair and flamboyant cricket.

“IPL will definitely miss Pollard and Bravo on the field. Those two guys made IPL what it is today,” Gayle said. “We have to give credit, recognise them—Bravo is the leading wicket-taker in the IPL and the two of them have won so many championships for their franchises. It is going to leave a gap in the IPL, without a doubt. Those guys are proper, proper entertainers. It will leave a little dent in the IPL, because no one truly can fill those sort of boots.

“Luckily there’s still someone like (Andre) Russell who can be that man to carry on the West Indies legacy we’ve set—being explosive, destroying bowlers, getting wickets and just set the IPL stage alive. You are gonna miss the Caribbean boys.”

That “gap” becomes a bit more jarring given the next-in-line cricketers-slash-entertainers from there haven’t quite stirred up that kind of buzz in the IPL just as yet. Their national team, too, has been on a freefall of late, with West Indies crashing out from the qualifying stage of the T20 World Cup. Still, the likes of Rovman Powell, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Nicholas Pooran and Odean Smith have shown promising sparks for their respective franchises in and prior to the 2022 season and, apart from the retained Russell (Kolkata Knight Riders), are among the 20 from West Indies in the auction list.

“Teams will go after someone like Smith, who is young. He is the future, can bat and bowl a heavy bowl. There are also the likes of Hetmyer and Holder (that can interest teams). Hopefully, we can see the real Pooran. He hasn’t delivered that for the IPL. He’s been very explosive in other tournaments, but we need to see that on the big stage consistently,” Gayle said.

Before turning up for Sunrisers Hyderabad for the 2022 season, Pooran represented (and perhaps typified) an underperforming Punjab Kings. Gayle, switching from Royal Challengers Bangalore to Punjab in 2018 and last playing for it in 2021, knows a thing or two about that franchise.

“Punjab chop and change too much, and it’s just ridiculous. You keep chopping and changing and you never have a set eleven… often players don’t feel comfortable, they feel threatened,” Gayle said.

Their leader from the previous season, Mayank Agarwal, has been released into the auction pool, which, according to his former player, ought to have hurt.

“If anybody doesn’t pick him, I will be very disappointed because he is such an explosive player. I know he is probably hurt within himself that he has not been retained by the Kings after what he has sacrificed for the franchise. And then to be treated like that, that’s disappointing,” Gayle said.