IPL 2022: From Dewald Brevis to Liam Livingstone, foreign players to watch out for this season – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

It’s that time of the year. Battle lines are drawn and there will be an extra sense of excitement when 10 teams go head-to-head in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) beginning on 26 March. The IPL is set to welcome Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Gujarat Titans (GT) as new teams this season, and this means there will be a change in format.

Ten teams have been divided into two groups of five, with a total of 74 matches to be played this season.

Overseas talent in the tournament keeps getting bigger and better with every passing season, and this time too it will be nothing short. AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle are a couple of names to have dominated the headlines in the IPL over the years. Who are the foreign players who could impress this season? We take a look at foreign players to watch out for in IPL :

Pat Cummins (KKR, Australia)

There was a huge bidding war between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Gujarat Titans (GT) for Australia pacer Pat Cummins during the IPL 2022 mega auction in February. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) showed interest towards the later stages of the bidding war, but it was KKR who once again secured the services of Cummins for Rs 7.25 crore.

In 2020, Cummins became the most expensive foreign buy at the IPL auction when he was acquired by KKR for a whopping price of Rs 15.50 crore. He had a decent run with the ball that season, taking 12 wickets from 14 matches. He followed it up with another season with KKR, picking nine wickets from seven games, all of which came in the India leg of the tournament.

The 28-year-old did not play the UAE leg in 2021, and was replaced by Tim Southee in the squad. Cummins was bought back by KKR this auction, and his ability to bowl with raw pace could be helpful for Kolkata.

Cummins will be expected to lead the pace attack consisting of Tim Southee and Umesh Yadav, and will be looking to strike at the right time with some crucial wickets.

Liam Livingstone (PBKS, England)

Much will be expected from England’s Liam Livingstone this IPL season. He was acquired by Punjab Kings for a whopping Rs 11.50 crore at the IPL 2022 auction.

He may not have had much productive IPL seasons over the last few years, but he is a hard-hitting batsman who can single-handedly decimate the opposition bowlers.

Livingstone has the ability to strike from ball one. His statistics in T20Is (285 runs in 17 matches) may not tell the entire story but his strike rate of 158.3 speaks volumes.

He can also be a handy spinner who can bowl both off-spin and leg-spin. In 17 T20Is, he’s picked up 12 scalps, at an economy rate of 7.12.

Livingstone finished as the top run-getter in The Hundred last year, amassing 348 runs from a total of 195 balls across nine matches in the tournament.

Dewald Brevis (MI, South Africa)

Dewald Brevis, or ‘Baby AB’ as he is often called by fans, made headlines at the ICC U19 World Cup in West Indies earlier this year. Despite South Africa not going all the way in the tournament, 18-year-old Brevis was still an influential figure within the camp, finishing as the tournament’s top run-getter with 506 runs from six matches at an impressive average of 84.33.

Across six matches, the teenager slammed two centuries and three fifties, apart from utilising his handy leg-spin to take seven wickets from six matches at an average of 5.58.

His stupendous show with the bat also earned him the Player of the Tournament award.

The aggressive South African batter then came under the hammer at the IPL auction in February. His base price was Rs 20 Lakh, and CSK and PBKS were initially involved in a bidding war before MI came into play and secured his services for Rs 3 crore.

He may not be a regular starter for MI in the forthcoming edition, but Brevis will surely look to make his opportunities count and relish the experience of learning from veterans like Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard.

All in all, Brevis seems to be an exciting prospect and it could well be raining boundaries once he enters the crease.

David Warner (DC, Australia)

Following a disappointing season with SRH last year, Australia’s David Warner will be looking to prove a statement once again, this time with Delhi Capitals (DC).

The Capitals secured Warner’s services for Rs 6.25 crore as he returns to the side whom he represented back in 2009 (when they were Delhi Daredevils)

Warner amassed 548 runs in the 2020 edition of the tournament, but he could not replicate that form in 2021, scoring just 195 from eight matches.

The 35-year-old’s disappointing form last season coincided with SRH’s inconsistent start to the tournament, losing six of their first seven matches.

Midway through the tournament, Warner then relinquished captaincy, and what’s worse, he got limited opportunities in the second half of the tournament.

However, Warner came back strongly in the T20 World Cup, scoring 289 runs from seven innings to finish as the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament, behind Babar Azam.

Warner looks set to miss the first two matches of the new season due to national duty, but once he arrives in the DC camp, the Capitals will have a formidable top-four of Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh and Rishabh Pant.

Warner’s impeccable batting at the top of the order will be nothing new, having forged several partnerships with Jonny Bairstow at SRH, but come IPL 2022 Warner will get set for a fresh challenge with the Capitals.

Tim David (MI, Singapore)

In IPL 2021, Tim David became the first-ever cricketer from Singapore to take part in the cash-rich tournament, when he was snapped up by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at last year’s auction.

He played in the only match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Sharjah last year, and returned to the auction pool this year.

His base price was slotted at Rs 40 Lakh but there was a bidding war when a lot of teams were interested in securing him. DC and KKR were involved in an early duel for the Tim, before PBKS and LSG entered the fray. But, in the end, it was MI that acquired him for Rs 8.25 crore.

Rod, Tim’s father, hails from New South Wales in Sydney but moved to Singapore later where he represented the national team before returning to his home nation.

Tim has represented Singapore in 14 T20Is, scoring 558 runs at an average of 46.50 and a strike-rate of 158.52.

The 26-year-old recently represented Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), scoring 278 runs from 11 matches at a strike-rate of 194.41.

Tim has also represented Lahore Qalandars in the PSL before, apart from also plying trade in the Big Bash League (BBL) with Perth Scorchers and Hobart Hurricanes.

Tim recently made it to the final of PSL, while representing Multan Sultans, but his team fell to a 42-run defeat at the hands of Lahore Qalandars.

The Singaporean is a power-hitter with the ability to finish matches, and also a handy part time off-spinner, and MI will be looking up to him to deliver the goods when needed the most.

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