The cricketing community gears up for yet another season of the Indian T20 League as the tournament’s first piece of action comes this week with the auctions on December 19.
A final list of 332 players was released to the teams a few days back and the list contained a few names who have had their share of split loyalties. With an auction happening every year, it is no surprise that players have represented multiple teams.
Read | Indian T20 League auctions: When and where to watch
However, some of them have taken it to the next level, with the most number of teams anyone has played for being seven- a distinction that belongs to Australia limited-overs skipper, Aaron Finch.
Most teams represent by a player from IPL 2020 auction list
— Abhishek Kumar (@abhik2593) December 14, 2019
7 - Aaron Finch (RR, DD, PWI, SRH, MI, GL, KXIP)
6 - Thisara Perara (CSK, KTK, MI, SRH, KXIP, RPS)
5 - Jaydev Unadkat (KKR, RCB, DD, RPS, RR)
5 - Moises Henriques (KKR, DD, SRH, RCB, KXIP)#IPLAuction #IPLAuction2020
Let us have a look at their performances in the Indian T20 League over the years:
Aaron Finch
Finch may be one of the most destructive openers in world cricket at the moment but for some reason has never really clicked in the Indian T20 League. His first brush with it came in 2010 with Rajasthan but he played just one game and scored 21.
He then moved to Delhi in 2011 and played for two seasons, scoring just 102 runs combined. Finch then played for a spate of teams for one year each- Pune, Hyderabad, and Mumbai with his most productive season being 2013 when he ended up with 456 runs.
Gujarat and Punjab also made it to his resume later, but he could be a big buy at the auctions this week, considering he led Australia to the World Cup semi-final and has generally been in good form since.
Thisara Perera
The Sri Lankan has played in the Indian T20 League for just six seasons but has represented five teams in that period. The only time he stayed with a side for more than a year was with Punjab, playing for them in 2014 and 2015.
His lower-order hitting and useful bowling should make him a great pick for T20s but he has not set the stage alight at any of his stints. His most productive time was in 2013 when he scored 233 runs and took 19 wickets while playing for Hyderabad but even that did not convince them to retain him for the next season.
Expect him to remain unsold again come Thursday.
Read | Mitchell Starc, Joe Root pull out of Indian T20 League auctions
Jaydev Unadkat
If you are looking for an answer to, “What could someone have achieved if they remained consistent?”, Jaydev Unadkat would be the perfect candidate to fit the prototype.
A great red-ball bowler, Unadkat has not enjoyed the same luck or produced the performances in the white-ball format. First bought by Kolkata in 2010 after an impressive U-19 campaign, he could not replicate that form and it prompted the team to cut their losses in 2012.
He moved to Bangalore, then Delhi, came back to Kolkata and finally shone at the new Pune team in 2017. He picked 24 wickets that season, including a fifer and Rajasthan thought they got themselves a trustworthy bowler when they shelled out big bucks for him in 2018.
However, Unadkat went back to his error-prone ways and though the Jaipur-based team put their faith in him in 2019, they did not want to take the risk again for 2020.
Moises Henriques
An all-rounder from Australia who can hit it a long way and give you four economical overs- what more could you ask for in a T20 team? Ask Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Punjab.
Henriques never quite fired for any of the teams, but his on and off performances for his national side made teams open their purses. However, his last appearance in the Indian T20 League came in 2017 and so, he may not attract too many bids this time around.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Sajjad Hussain
