IPL 2018 auction: KXIP Team Director Virender Sehwag hints at picking Afghanistan, UAE players

The Indian Premier League has given opportunities to players from minnows of world cricket as they can also become a part of the auction. Five Afghanistan and one UAE player were included in the IPL 2016 auction, and two players – Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan – were picked up by Sunrisers Hyderabad as well.

There is no dearth of talent in the region when it comes to cricket. With the IPL 2018 mega auction set to take taking place soon, there is a lot of buzz and more players from Afghanistan and UAE could go under the hammer. Their inclusion adds a different flavour to the IPL auction.

Kings XI Punjab Team Director Virender Sehwag, who played in the recently concluded T10 league in Sharjah, feels that youngsters playing in that league could be picked for the auction.

"The young players from UAE and Afghanistan are playing in this league and as a mentor of the IPL I watch a lot of players and you never know when these players come in the IPL auction. You know the players (here) have a capability to score runs and take wickets," sport360.com quoted Sehwag as saying.

With Sehwag having played in the T10 league, he might have looked at some players, who could impress in the IPL. If so, the director can pass some crucial information to the team management, who can take a call on the matter.

KXIP have already started their job of building a team for 2018. They have already picked up experienced T20 campaigner Brad Hodge as coach.

Hodge will play an important role in picking players during the IPL 2018 auction, which is going to be massive this time around as a number of players are going under the hammer.