IPL Auction 2022: R Ashwin names Indian pacer who is certain to trigger a bidding war

Indian ace off-spinner R Ashwin reckoned that franchises would go all-out to secure the services of Avesh Khan in the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction. The 25-year-old made his IPL debut back in 2017, but it was only in the previous season that he was able to make a name for himself.

The Capitals, then led by Shreyas Iyer, failed to qualify for the final, but Khan caught the limelight with his fiery bowling. In his first four IPL seasons, the Madhya Pradesh-born Khan had picked up five wickets from nine matches, but in 2021, he came into his own.

Avesh Khan finished as the leading wicket-taker for the Capitals with 24 scalps from 16 matches at an economy rate of 7.37. The speedster has set himself a base price of Rs 20 lakh for the mega auction to take place in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.

IPL Auction 2022: Avesh Khan would trigger massive bidding war, says R Ashwin

The 35-year-old R Ashwin, who's also a part of the auction, said that Avesh Khan would trigger a massive bidding war among the eight teams. "There is definitely going to be a bidding war for Avesh Khan. No doubt about that. Guarantee. Just like how Vijay Mallya fought for me with CSK in 2010, I can picture a Parth Jindal or a Kiran Rao fighting it out for Avesh Khan this year. With whom will they fight? Well, that might be any team," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

Khan finished the 2021 IPL as the second-highest wicket-taker after Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) Harshal Patel, who bagged the Purple Cap. As many as 590 players will go under the hammer in the auction.

Ashwin played alongside Avesh Khan in the 2021 IPL. The Capitals made their way through to the playoffs after finishing in the top two. But they lost two back-to-back games at the hands of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to bow out of the tournament.

The upcoming IPL auction will be a 10-team affair after Ahmedabad and Lucknow threw their hat in the ring. The official dates and venue of IPL 2022 are yet to be announced.

(Image: IPLT20.com)