Over the years, many players from South Africa have made an impact in the Indian Premier League. Players like AB De Villiers, Faf Du Plessis, David Miller, Dale Steyn etc. have an immense fan following in India.
While many of these names are approaching the end of their careers, there are youngsters who are looking to make a name at the global stage. The IPL is a fantastic platform for them, and with the addition of two new franchises, we can expect to see many players receive their first taste of the lucrative competition.
Here are three South African players who might get their maiden IPL contract in 2022:
#3. Reeza Hendricks
32-year old Reeza Hendricks is known for his prowess in the shortest format of the game. He has developed a reputation as a devastating opener, capable of controlling the pace of the game. In 40 T20I innings, Reeza has scored 1049 runs at an average of 26.9. He is also the all-time leading run-scorer in South Africa’s T20 League, the Mzansi Super League. He has an average close to 50 in that tournament while striking at 135.
With the mega-auctions just a few months away, the Proteas opener can be a pretty hot prospect, despite having a lacklustre T20 World Cup campaign.
#2. Dwaine Pretorius
With star bowlers like Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, and Tabraiz Shamsi in the South African team, Dwaine Pretorius’ name is sometimes overlooked. However, he has time and again proved to be very effective. He and Nortje were South Africa’s joint-highest wicket-takers in the T20 World Cup 2021. Both of them took nine wickets, however, Pretorius did so while bowling fewer overs.
He relished the responsibility given to him by captain Temba Bavuma to bowl the tough overs at the death during the World Cup. He had said in an official ICC release during the tournament: “I’m willing to do that ugly job [death bowling], if you want to call it that, the stuff that doesn’t always look the prettiest but is very effective.” The fact that he bowled 14.4 overs in the mega event and had a remarkable economy of 6.88 is proof that he implemented what he stated.
Hence, courtesy of his ability to stop the run flow towards the end of the innings, Pretorius will definitely attract some bidders in the upcoming IPL 2022 auctions.
#1. Rassie van der Dussen
During the second phase of IPL 2021, Rassie van der Dussen was supposed to replace injured Ben Stokes in the Rajasthan Royals squad. However, he could not join RR since he was unable to receive a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Cricket South Africa.
When it comes to T20 internationals, the South African has an average of 34.96 and a strike rate of 128.48. Many IPL teams are excessively dependent on their openers and need more quality in the middle order. Rassie would be an ideal pick for them and thus he has a good chance of earning a maiden contract in cricket’s biggest league.
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