William O’Rourke, the tall pacer from New Zealand, drew everyone’s eyeballs with a scintillating performance in the first Test match against India at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. He led the New Zealand bowling attack which bowled India out for just 46 runs in the first innings, taking four wickets. He further added 3 more wickets to his kitty in the second innings.
Before this match, he has bagged 19 wickets in four Tests. With the IPL auction coming soon, several teams would like to strengthen up their squads by targeting O’Rourke. Let’s look at the teams that can look to target William O’Rourke in the auction.
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Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians, who finished bottom last year, still have the best batting line-up in IPL, however, their bowling, especially overseas bowlers, has been a weak spot. They need to strengthen their bowling attack as only Jasprit Bumrah will be retained from the bowling department for the next season. Overseas bowlers like Coetzee, Mphaka, and Thushara performed below-average level last year so MI had to rely totally on Bumrah.
William O’Rourke could be a strong addition to MI. The Wankhede pitch sometimes lends some support to the fast bowlers and gives that little extra bounce, which can benefit O’Rourke. Bringing him in could provide MI with the overseas bowling strength they lacked last season and ease the pressure on Bumrah.
Kolkata Knight Riders
The champions of IPL 2024, Kolkata Knight Riders have a good all-round team with respect to batting, bowling, and fielding. However, their overseas fast bowling remains one of the weak spots, as they have only Mitchell Starc in the lineup. Starc, who was bought for a whopping ₹24.75 crore last season, had a slow start but performed pretty exceptionally well in the playoffs.
It will be pretty tough for KKR to retain Starc at such a high price as they have retain other key players also. If they lose him, then KKR must look to William O’Rourke for their team. Like Wankhede, Eden Gardens has turned out to become a pace-friendly pitch, hence O’Rourke could be a great addition to the team.
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Chennai Super Kings
Chennai Super Kings, who missed out on the playoffs last season, will be looking to make changes in the upcoming auction, especially to strengthen their bowling attack. From the overseas players, Matheesha Pathirana is likely to be retained, along with Deepak Chahar from the Indian lot. CSK could consider targeting someone like William O’Rourke to boost their pace department.
They had Mustafizur Rahman in the previous season, but he had to leave midway as Bangladesh matches were scheduled, and he’s not the bowler he used to be. The other reason that O’Rourke could be a good fit is CSK’s tradition of signing New Zealanders. They already have Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, and Santner. Earlier, many Kiwis have played for them. With Stephen Fleming as the coach, CSK might look to bring in O’Rourke.
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