IPL 2020: 5 overseas finishers to watch for in IPL 13

The IPL 2020 will begin from Sept 19 with CSK taking on MI in Abu Dhabi.

The Indian Premier League 2020 will commence from September 19 when Chennai Super Kings will challenge the defending champions Mumbai Indians at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The IPL 2020 is happening in bio-secure venues of Sharjah and Dubai apart from Abu Dhabi.

The tournament will be a good stress buster for all the cricket fans everywhere around the world, especially after the havoc wreaked by the Coronavirus in 2020. The IPL has been impacted as well, postponed from March, and moved out of India due to the pandemic.

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However, most of the foreign players of all eight franchises will participate in the tournament and have reached their bases in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. The attraction of foreigners in IPL has made it one of the biggest brands in cricket and they have done justice to the price they have been paid.

Overseas players come to IPL with a specialty and most of them are very good big hitters of the ball and employed by teams as finishers. Their big-hitting enthralls the fans and Team COC has therefore picked five such overseas finishers to watch out for in the upcoming IPL 2020.

Check out the 5 overseas finishers to watch for in IPL 13

SHIMRON HETMYER (DC)

Shimron Hetmyer boasts of a strike rate of over 100 in both ODIs (106.87) and T20Is (122.91). His T20 strike rate of 130.45 is why he was picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2019. But in the five matches he got to play, he managed just 90 runs including the best score of 75.

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This time, however, Hetmyer will play for Delhi Capitals and is expected to play the role of a finisher in the middle order. He can hit sixes far and away and has the capability to hit both fast bowlers and spinners to all parts of the ground. He brings in his Caribbean swag to the game and is one of the most exciting players to watch out for in the upcoming IPL 2020.  

NICHOLAS POORAN (KXIP)

Nicholas Pooran is another West Indian youngster who has made a name for himself as a big-hitter. Though on the slighter side in physicality, Pooran makes up for it in sheer power when it comes to big-hits. He has a decent outing in IPL 2019 for Kings XI Punjab, showing glimpses of what he could do.

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But in the World Cup 2019, he showed his real potential, scoring a hundred in the process. He boasts of a strike rate of 141.63 from 138 T20 matches and KXIP will certainly love for him to come to the party in the UAE, where they have a brilliant unbeaten record.

GLENN MAXWELL (KXIP)

Aiding Nicholas Pooran in the carnage department will be Glenn Maxwell, who returns to Kings XI Punjab side after a significant absence. He was their highest run-getter when the IPL was last played in UAE in 2014 and helped the side go to the finals.

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Maxwell, who missed the IPL 2019 in order to focus on World Cup 2019, returned from a mental health break in 2020 and has shown glimpses of his past brutality on bowlers in the ongoing limited-overs series against England. He will definitely boost the chances of the KXIP team getting into the playoffs.

ANDRE RUSSELL (KKR)

Andre Russell brutalized the bowlers in IPL 2019, where he scored 510 runs at an astonishing strike rate of 204.81. He regularly won matches for KKR from positions where they had to get 50 plus runs in the last four overs. He slammed 52 sixes in the 2019 edition only and the fans will be hoping for the same this season as well.

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KKR had won the IPL in 2014, when it was last played, in part, in UAE and Russell is going to be one of the most important factors in KKR hoping to repeat their feat. Russell will be getting help this time from Eoin Morgan in the big-hitting department, but he still remains a crucial player for KKR and they will hope for full fitness from the big man.

KIERON POLLARD (MI)

Kieron Pollard has been in killer form in the recently completed CPL 2020, where he led the Trinbago Knight Riders to their fourth title that too undefeated. Pollard made 207 runs at a strike rate of 204.95, slamming 20 sixes in the process.

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He had done the same thing for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2019 as well, even winning an impossible match for them against KXIP, when he slammed 83 from just 31 balls with 10 sixes and 3 fours to his name. MI will be hoping for the same devastating form from Trinidadian as they seek to defend their IPL title.