NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 Player Auction, Rajasthan Royals' Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara said that a quality local pacer will be on the list of most franchises.
Former Sri Lanka skipper, Sangakkara, was appointed as the Rajasthan Royals' Director of Cricket last month for the upcoming season 14 of IPL.
"It feels quite good. It's going to be an interesting role, an interesting challenge, something that I hadn't really thought of for a while, but when the offer did come, it took me a while to really understand what it was about and then, say yes, so pretty excited. (On domestic bowlers) A quality local pacer will be on the list of most franchises," Sangakkara said on Star Sports show IPL Auction: Curtain Raiser.
"They are very valuable when you can get them, whether it is Umesh Yadav or someone else, may be unheard of, who knows. There are choices out there. Super-fast-bowlers are very important, so yes, there will be attention on them from all the franchises. (On batting) I won't be able to give you a pinpoint accuracy on who we're looking at, but there are lots of batsmen out there. We have vacancies that we try to fill - you know combinations that we are looking at, and so, will be the other side, so we are keeping our eyes open to see who best fits the role," he added.
As many as 292 cricketers are set to go under the hammer in Chennai on Thursday. Over 1000 players had initially registered for the auction but the final list, announced on February 11, was pruned after the eight franchises submitted their shortlist of players.
A total of 164 Indian players, 125 overseas players, and 3 players from Associate Nations will be up for grabs in the IPL 2021 Player Auction.