You love to see an upcoming player in the longlist for the IPL auction, which is ever better if this is a player that comes from an associate nation and Thomas Draca is exciting!
Italy have thrown us a surprise, Thomas Jack Draca – the 24-year-old Italian has managed to make the longlist for the IPL auction and he stands a chance to be picked by the Mumbai Indians.
Who is Draca?
You might wonder what he does and how he managed to get in. Tom Draca is a right-arm seamer who hits the pitch hard and gets consistent seam movement off the straight, nippy and fast, he can get the ball to skid off the pitch.
As to how he got in? Well, that can be answered by the ever-present scouts at Mumbai Indians and their global lookout. A team that scouted Yuzvendra Chahal, Marco Jansen, Tristan Stubbs, and most recently, Kwena Maphaka who just ended as the highest wicket-taker in the CSA T20 Challenge!
It was a sister franchise, the MI Emirates, that have already signed Thomas Draca and that led the way to Draca making the IPL longlist.
How did Draca do in the GT20?
Draca debuted for Italy in the sub-regional Europe qualifier, having taken 2fer on debut, he ended up with 8 wickets at 8.5, with an economy of 4.25, highlighting his ability.
He began his ascent in the GT20 in Canada, taking 3 for 18 in his first game, dismissing the belligerent Sunil Narine amongst his three wickets. He took 11 wickets, with only Romario Shepherd (14) and Junaid Siddique (14) having taken more.
Next was his 3 for 10, the best performance he had in the tournament, where he made quite an impression of David Wiese who was dismissed by a brute that took his glove and skidded off the surface to hurry Wiese into the shot!
Draca made an impact across phases as well, he bowled 17 overs, took 11 wickets at an average of 10.64, conceded 117 runs, had an economy of 6.88 and 50% of his balls were dots.
| Phase | Runs | Wickets | Average | Economy | Dot % |
| Powerplay | 39 | 4 | 9.75 | 5.57 | 47.62% |
| Middle | 59 | 5 | 11.8 | 8.43 | 50% |
| Death | 19 | 2 | 9.5 | 6.33 | 55.56% |
Keep an eye out for this 24 year old quick from Italy, if not an IPL deal now, he very well will end up with one in the future, and he’s already making waves amongst the Franchise Leagues, with people having watched him play quite impressed by his abilities.
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