A host of capped, uncapped and decorated international cricketers are in the race to become the most expensive player in the upcoming edition of the mega auction for Indian Premier League (IPL) season 2022. With Rohit Sharma & Co. playing Kieron Pollard’s West Indies in the three-match One Day International (ODI) series at home, several overseas players have a decent opportunity to raise their stocks before the mega auction of the world’s richest T20 league.  

Star all-rounder Jason Holder is expected to remain on the shortlist of all 10 franchises that will enter the mega auction in search of a proven all-rounder in white-ball cricket. Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra believes the current West Indies squad also features another standout all-rounder, who can kickstart a bidding war at the IPL 2022 auction. 

West Indies’ all-rounder Odean Smith put up a show for the visitors in the 2nd ODI of the three-match series on Wednesday. Taking cognisance of Smith’s all-round show, Chopra is convinced that the Windies cricketer has already become a player worth INR 4-5 crore ahead of IPL’s new season. “Odean Smith – I feel he has become a half-a-million-dollar player. He has already become a 4-5 crore player because all teams will run after him,” Aakash Chopra explained in a video shared on his YouTube channel. 

Smith got the better of makeshift opener Rishabh Pant in the 2nd ODI between India and the West Indies on Wednesday. The 25-year-old also bagged the jackpot wicket of Virat Kohli in the same contest. The West Indies all-rounder then chipped in with a crucial knock of 24 off 20 balls although his heroics went in vain as India won the match by 44 runs. 

“Overall, the skillset with which he is coming, in the IPL mega auction, he will get a lot of horns blown. He bowls, Rishabh Pant and Kohli dismissed in one over and he would have got Rahul as well, and then came to play the big shots,” Chopra added.