Monday 5 February 2018 09:55, UK
Nearly 600 cricketers - 24 of them English - will be on tenterhooks this weekend when bidding begins in the Indian Premier League auction.
Sky Sports' Nasser Hussain reveals who he would buy, how the IPL will help Joe Root develop and which of his fellow commentators would have fetched the most in their pomp…
Let's pretend the Chelmsford Chiefs are in the auction. Which three players (not including the 18 already retained by franchises) are you desperate to buy and why?
Nas: There are complications around buying last year's MVP, BEN STOKES, but let's presume he will be available and focused; he's a three-dimensional cricketer who is capable of taking the tournament by storm again. Some players have struggled with second-season-itis but Stokes will have a point to prove. He gives his absolute best whoever he plays for and thrives on the big stage.
The whole story around Afghan cricket is incredible and the way RASHID KHAN has bowled, in particular in the last year in T20 cricket, has been phenomenal. He's got great variations, as he proved for Sunrisers Hyderabad last year, and wrist spinners tend to be worth their weight in gold in T20 cricket - especially mystery ones. I don't think he's been worked out yet.
As I can't have Bhuvneshwar Kumar (retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad), I'm going for MITCHELL STARC because he'll get wickets up front, when it does swing around a bit, and at the death when he can run through the tail. He has great variations too, including a quick bumper. Being a left-armer he also gives you a different line of attack too.
'Million Dollar' Tymal Mills was sold for $1.8m last year. Which of the 24 England players could be the surprise big winners this time around and why?
Nas: Anything can happen in an auction - Stokes' fee was a surprise last year! I would be spending a lot of money on Jos Buttler as he's one of the most destructive white-ball players in world cricket. He's up there with the best of the finishers at the moment. After his hundred against Australia his price tag must have gone up.
I know Jofra Archer isn't English-qualified yet but based on his performances in the Big Bash, where his death bowling has been magnificent and his fielding exceptional. Tymal Mills' life changed this time last year and the same just might happen to Archer.
Will, as Joe Root states, playing in the IPL develop his game - or is he risking burnout?
Nas: Look at the other members of the 'Fab Four' - Kohli, Williamson and Smith. They're all captains of their country and they go off and play IPL. Playing in the IPL will improve you as a cricketer, it will improve your hitting potential and coping in big-pressure games. The one thing England haven't totally got to grips with is winning big knock-out matches; the more English players we have playing in IPL and getting to the knockout stages, with the pressure of millions watching, should only make them better cricketers. So go for it, enjoy it.
So was Ben Stokes a better player after last season's IPL?
Nas: Working with a specialist T20 bowling coach helped him a lot - his variations and yorkers have got better as a result - but his batting also came on; before he went to the IPL he had a tendency to go a little bit early. The tournament taught him that if it means giving the first 10 balls of his innings to the opposition to get used to the pace, then so be it. I know he's been working with the likes of Graham Thorpe to play with softer hands so he can manoeuvre the ball into gaps. T20 isn't all about smashing the ball out of the park - Ben has always been able to do that - but knocking it around is crucial to building those match-winning scores.
How big an issue in English cricket is player availability for county, franchise and country?
Nas: Once you get to the highest level and you're talking about Joe Root, Jos Buttler and the like then I think the balance is right. There's a realisation that the world game has changed and that if participating in the IPL means that occasionally top players miss the odd T20 game, then that's fair enough.
But when you're talking about a young lad like Tom Helm, there's more of a grey area. If he gets snapped up and played for the duration of the IPL then he'd miss five Championship games before the end of May. So what is better for his development? Last year Jason Roy went and sat on the bench for the Gujarat Lions, playing just three games, and when he came back to England he was completely out of nick and was dropped by England because he'd lost the rhythm of batting. If you go to the IPL and play it is beneficial, but if you go and bench-warm and you're a young lad it might be better to stay at home and play in English conditions.
Which of the Sky commentators in their pomp would go for the most money in an IPL auction?
Nas: For sheer T20 entertainment value, it has to be Bumble. It wouldn't matter what his strike-rate is, he'd have a captive audience of millions to tell his stories too. He'd also love a mentor role too - and I couldn't think of a better one!
