Ricky Ponting: “He’ll go for big money, or decent money, I’d imagine”
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Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes Hobart Hurricanes opener D’Arcy Short could be in for a huge payday at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction later this month.
Short has made headlines in the ongoing season of the Big Bash League (BBL) as he has scored 465 runs in seven matches, which includes a century and three fifties, at an average of 77.50 and a strike-rate of 153.46.
Given that Short has also broken the record for the most runs made in a BBL season, Ponting feels that Short will receive a lot of interest from the IPL franchises at the auction, which will take place on January 27 and 28 in Bangalore.
“Whatever he goes for will be a big payday for him (given) he’s put himself into the auction at base price (about $AUD 40,000),” Ponting was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. “Looking back now, he probably wishes he had put himself in a little bit more. But his base price shouldn’t matter – he’ll go for big money, or decent money, I’d imagine.
“There will be more than one team looking at him I’m sure. You look around this Big Bash, you’ve got Stephen Fleming (touted as likely to resume coaching Chennai Super Kings), Brad Hodge (coach of Kings XI Punjab), myself (Delhi Daredevils), Dan Vettori (Royal Challengers Bangalore).
“A lot of guys who are head coaches in the IPL and have seen him up close in the last few weeks. He’ll fetch a good price.”
Meanwhile, Ponting also admitted that Short has no doubt caught the selectors’ attention and could very well be included in Australia’s squad for the upcoming T20 tri-series involving England and New Zealand.
“He’s confident, he’s a very naturally talented and skilled player, he’s not complicating things,” Ponting said. “When you combine all those things together, he’s hitting the ball as well as anyone has hit the ball in the history of this tournament.
“Whether that’s an overseas import or a David Warner, Shaun Marsh has had some good (T20) tournaments, but I’m not sure anyone has had a tournament quite like D’Arcy Short has.
“We saw glimpses of it last year early in the season, we saw glimpses of his ball striking ability but he probably hadn’t quite worked his game out.
“He understands the game more now, he understands his own game more now.
“He’s a pretty complete package. He got through three overs tonight (in the Hurricanes’ five-wicket win over Brisbane Heat), he’s a good fielder. I’m sure all the Australian selectors are talking about him right now.”
However, even though Ponting conceded that Short will be able to replace David Warner or Aaron Finch at the top of the order, the 43-year-old still expects the 27-year-old to have the same kind of approach and mentality wherever he bats.
“He’s batting that well at the moment, it doesn’t matter where he bats,” Ponting said. “You’d love to see him open but he’s probably not going to knock a Finch or a Warner out of the Australian side.
“The way he’s able to just walk in and strike the ball well from the start – it doesn’t matter where he bats, if selected of course.
“It’s a different set of circumstances but I think he’s batting that well that he can probably cope with it. He was exposed a few times early last season, probably to finger-spin more so than leg-spin. That’s where he’s developed (this BBL season). He’s put pressure back on the spinners when they’ve come on early every game.
“He’s always going to play fast bowling well – he was brought up in Darwin, played most of his cricket over in Western Australia on fast bouncy pitches. That will never be a problem for him.
“It’s going to be a tricky selection actually, the Australian T20 team. There’s guys like him that are throwing their hat into the ring and you’ve already got some very good established players in some of those positions. It will be interesting to see which they go.”