IPL 2020: One overseas player from each team who could make an impact

Out of the 12 seasons of IPL, overseas cricketers have won the orange cap on 9 occasions, while they have won the purple cap on 7 occasions. It signifies the importance of overseas players in the tournament.

While the Indian domestic cricketers are important as they know the home conditions well and a large chunk of the XI has to be formed by the Indian players, the match-winning impact in most of the games is often made by the overseas players.

Whichever team has got the best set of overseas players hardly ever finds itself out of the race of the playoffs. The reason why Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings have won the IPL so many times is that they have always had their overseas players as mainstays of the team apart from a

The overseas players will have a major say in IPL 2020 again. Here is one overseas player from each team who could make an impact this season.

#1 Mumbai Indians | Trent Boult

Mumbai Indians seem to have all their bases covered now with the arrival of Trent Boult. They had a couple of fast bowlers who are the best in the business in terms of bowling at the death. What they were lacking at times was someone to make inroads up front and Boult is the ideal fit for the job.

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The New Zealander is an outstanding swing bowler and the fact that he swings the ball from the left arm over the wicket angle; it adds another dimension to their bowling attack. He has got the natural variation which takes the ball away from the right-handers and when he gets it to swing in, it catches the right-handers in no man’s land most of the time.

#2 Chennai Super Kings | Sam Curran

Sam Curran might not be a sure starter in the CSK XI, but the skill-set that he brings to the table can be very useful for CSK. He is a slingy left-arm bowler who can get the ball to tail away from the right-handers towards the end of the innings on dusty pitches of Chepauk as one side of the ball would often get roughed up on those surfaces.

Curran can also be a very handy middle-order batsman. He is not the most powerful striker of the ball, but he has got a big range of shots. He can cut the ball over backward point, can go over extra-cover, can go straight and can pull the ball over the square leg as well. He is a complete all-rounder.

Note: All statistics as of February 18, 2020

#3 Kolkata Knight Riders | Eoin Morgan

Eoin Morgan can be the link between the top order and the lower middle order of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), a role which Robin Uthappa used to do for KKR in the past.

While he has not played in the IPL a lot in the recent years, Morgan has still got a fair bit of experience of playing in the subcontinent conditions as he has been visiting this part of the world regularly as captain of England's white ball teams.

Morgan can sweep and reverse-sweep which helps him manipulate the field on both sides, but he can also loft the ball inside out over extra-cover. The left-hander can go straight down the ground against spinners as well.

#4 Rajasthan Royals | Oshane Thomas

Thomas is going to be the first choice overseas fast bowler for Rajasthan Royals in Jofra Archer’s absence. He is fast and can swing the ball early on, but there are question marks over his control. He can be erratic at times and can leak a lot of runs. But, if he comes off, he can do a lot of damage in the powerplay itself.

Thomas had played only 4 games in the last IPL as he was the understudy to Archer; however, he is expected to play right from the start of the tournament this time around.

#5 Kings XI Punjab | Chris Jordan

Kings XI Punjab struggled a lot with their death bowling in IPL 2019. They had an upper hand on the opposition for the first 16 overs in most of the games, but they lost the plot towards the end and it happened because of the lack of a good death bowler.

Chris Jordan can solve the issue for the franchise this season. Jordan has got a terrific yorker, but he can’t be lined up for the fuller length only as he is quick enough to bang the ball short too. He also bowls slower ball bouncers and hardly ever gets predictable.

#6 Delhi Capitals | Shimron Hetmyer

It’s not too long ago that Hetmyer scored an ODI hundred against India in Chennai which left many people awestruck. It’s not just the runs that Hetmyer scored, the manner in which he scored them blew people’s minds.

It was not a very easy wicket to bat on, as the ball was gripping and turning a little bit, but Hetmyer was extremely quick in picking the length of the spinners. He was very clear in his head whether he had to commit forward or back, as he dispatched the Indian bowlers all around the park on his way to a world-class hundred. He can be Delhi’s X-factor this IPL.

#7 Royal Challengers Bangalore | Aaron Finch

Aaron Finch has got two 150 plus scores to his name in T20 international cricket which is enough to suggest his potential with the bat. Finch’s precision with his stroke-play is what makes him one of the most dangerous batsmen in the world.

Finch is not a hit-and-miss slogger who is unreliable. He has got a method to his power-hitting. He has got the shots for different lengths. If he is playing well, you can’t just stop him by changing your length, as he can play with both vertical and horizontal bat.

#8 Sunrisers Hyderabad | Mohammad Nabi

Sunrisers Hyderabad have not used Mohammad Nabi in the best possible manner in the last few years. He has been slotted way too low in the batting order, which has not allowed him to showcase his full range of strokes.

Nabi has got the power game and he can be used to provide impetus to the innings in the middle overs when the spinners are bowling. He is a typical subcontinent batsman who hits the spinners straight with minimal risk.

Nabi’s off-spin bowling is the icing on the cake. He is one of those off-spinners who can bowl against the right-handers as well, as he doesn’t quite turn the ball. His trajectory and accuracy are the two major components of his bowling.