Former India and Chennai Super Kings cricketer Suresh Raina has singled out Ireland's left-arm fast bowler Joshua Little as a player to watch out for in the upcoming IPL 2023 player auction, to be held in Kochi on Friday.
Little had an outstanding time in the Men's T20 World Cup in Australia as Ireland entered Super 12 stage, claiming 11 wickets in seven matches, including a hat-trick against New Zealand.
He had been a net bowler for Chennai Super Kings, the four-time champions, in IPL 2022. He also has upcoming T20 franchise deals with Pretoria Capitals in SA20, Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in 2023.
"Watch out for Joshua Little from Ireland. He has done really well in the World Cup just now, and I just played with him (in the T10 league)," Raina was quoted as saying by JioCinema, where he's a part of their expert panel for the auction.
From the Indian players in the auction, Raina picked left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat and wicketkeeper-batter N Jagadeesan to get big deals. Both players have had IPL experiences in the past and recently fared very well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Unadkat finished with 19 wickets in 10 games at an economy rate of 3.33, leading Saurashtra to the trophy while Jagadeesan piled up five consecutive centuries for Tamil Nadu, including a record-breaking 277 against Arunachal Pradesh in Bengaluru.
"N Jagadeesan has a very good cricketing brain, and he bats so deep, is a very smart, calculative batsman. He has done really well for Tamil Nadu, watch out for him. Then there is Jaydev Unadkat who just won the Vijay Hazare Trophy and has a lot of experience in the IPL," he added.
Raina also expects the T20 World Cup winning duo of England's Sam Curran and Ben Stokes to be huge picks in the auction. Curran, the player of the tournament in T20 World Cup, had been a part of CSK and Punjab Kings in the past while Stokes was a crucial player for Rajasthan Royals and now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant teams in the IPL.
"Sam Curran has done really well for England as well as for Chennai Super Kings and there is Ben Stokes who has led England well. So having a top all-rounder in your team can change the movement of the game," he concluded.