Among the ample youngsters who will be part of the upcoming IPL 2024 auction, the 20-year-old Aarya Desai from Surat, Gujarat, could stand out from most of the rest.
The IPL 2024 auction is slated for Tuesday, December 19, at the Coca Cola Arena in Dubai, kicking off at 11.30 am local time, which is 1:00 pm IST.
Who is Aarya Desai, and why his name is buzzing among the fans and IPL team management ahead of the IPL 2024 auction?
Hailing from Surat, 20-year-old Aarya Desai is a proper all-rounder – he is a left-handed opening batsman and a right-arm off-spinner. Despite being of a young age, Aarya has made it into the Gujarat domestic teams in all three formats in 2023.
Ahead of the IPL 2024 auction, Aarya was called up for trials of multiple IPL franchises, including the Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals.
Impressed by his all-round skillset, talent, temperament, and flexibility of batting both as an opener and in the middle-orde, the Kolkata Knight Riders had roped him into their squad in the IPL 2023 season, at his base price of INR 20 lakh.
Let’s check out Aarya Desai’s domestic numbers:
The Gujarat domestic team management put massive faith in Aarya Desai as he featured in all three formats this year – Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The confidence shown in him by Gujarat also speaks of his temperament, despite still being a youngster. He has cracked two fifties already.
In his 8 T20 innings, Aarya Desai clobbered 12 fours and 11 sixes, that is 23 hits to or over the fence in only 8 innings, which comes down to almost 3 fours/sixes per innings. This is mighty impressive for a player of his age and little experience in his debut year in domestic cricket. Aarya was used as an Impact Player in the SMAT season by Gujarat.
His best knock was a sizzling innings of 62* runs in only 35 balls, which included 5 towering sixes, against a potent Andhra Pradesh bowling attack on a challenging surface in Ranchi.
Watch out for Aarya Desai in the IPL 2024 auction. Teams like Mumbai Indians, who have released their off-spinning all-rounder Hrithik Shokeen, or Rajasthan Royals, who have released left-handed batsman Devdutt Padikkal, could bid fiercely to gain the services of Aarya, who could very well be the next big thing in Indian cricket.
IPL 2024 auction: Purse of each team available:
Gujarat Titans – INR 38.15 crore
Sunrisers Hyderabad – INR 34 crore
Kolkata Knight Riders – INR 32.7 crore
Chennai Super Kings – INR 31.4 crore
Punjab Kings – INR 29.1 crore
Delhi Capitals – INR 28.95 crore
Royal Challengers Bangalore – INR 23.25 crore
Mumbai Indians – INR 17.75 crore
Rajasthan Royals – INR 14.5 crore
Lucknow Super Giants – INR 13.15 crore
