IPL 2022 | Faf du Plessis will be most sought player in mega auction, says Brad Hogg

IPL 2022 will be a 10-team affair with the addition of Lucknow Supergiants and Ahmedabad franchise to the list of participant teams. Also, there will be a mega auction ahead of the 15th edition of the cash-rich league. All the franchises have submitted their final list of retentions ahead of the mega auction.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) retained Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali and Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of the mega auction. However, the four-time IPL champions released their trusted opener Faf du Plessis, and the former South Africa captain will feature in the mega auction, scheduled on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, former Australia cricketer Brad Hogg feels that Du Plessis will be the most sought player in the auction due to his leadership skills. 

"Du Plessis will be the most sought out player in the auction, because of his leadership skills," Hogg said on his official YouTube channel.

"RCB, PBKS and KKR and CSK will go for him. He has leadership skills, which is why the other three teams will look to bring him in. He is very consistent at the top of the order as well. I reckon he could go for 7 crores, could blow out to 11 crores, especially after what he did last year.”

Hogg also added that Punjab Kings (PBKS), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will have a bidding war for Shreyas Iyer in the mega auction. The former Australian spinner further precited that pacers Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Shami will win a huge amount in the auction.

"Iyer is a consistent player, who controls the innings, but also with his experience of captaining in the IPL, I think PBKS and RCB will go for Iyer. KKR might even have a dab as well. I think he will go for about 4 crores,” he stated.

"Rabada, always bowling in those dangerous situations and he does the job well, picks up wickets, bowls with a reasonable economy. I think he should go for 4-5 crores.

"All 10 teams will be very aggressive going after Shami. I wouldn't be surprised if he is up about the 5 Cr mark or more. Don't see Warner going for anything more than 4 crores," he added.