Suresh Raina, a former cricketer for India and the Chennai Super Kings, has singled out Joshua Little, a left-arm fast bowler from Ireland, as a player to keep an eye on in the upcoming IPL 2023 player auction, which will take place in Kochi on Friday.
Little was brilliant for Ireland as they advanced to the Super 12 stage of the Men's T20 World Cup in Australia, taking 11 wickets in seven games, including a hat-trick against New Zealand. In IPL 2022, he had played net bowling for the four-time champion Chennai Super Kings.
Additionally, in 2023, he will have T20 franchise agreements with Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and Pretoria Capitals in the SA20.
"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.
Raina chose left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat and wicketkeeper-bat N Jagadeesan from among the Indian players in the auction to secure lucrative contracts. Both players have participated in the IPL in the past and performed admirably in the Vijay Hazare Trophy recently.
Unadkat led Saurashtra to victory with his 19 wickets in 10 games and 3.33 economy rate, while Jagadeesan scored five straight hundreds 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.
Sam Curran and Ben Stokes, the English players who won the T20 World Cup, are anticipated to be top choices in the auction, according to Raina.
While Stokes played an important role for the now-defunct Rajasthan Royals and Rising Pune Supergiant clubs in the IPL, Curran, the player of the tournament at the T20 World Cup, previously played for CSK and Punjab Kings.
"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.