AB de Villiers assures Benny Howell of participation in IPL 2020 Auction

Dixit Bhargav | 05/02/2019
de Villiers assures Benny Howell of participation in IPL

de Villiers assures Benny Howell of participation in IPL: The Rangpur Riders all-rounder seems to have impressed AB de Villiers.

Uncapped England all-rounder Benny Howell, who has been playing county cricket since 2010, has given the impression of impressing former South Africa captain AB de Villiers to the extent that the latter has assured him of his name in IPL 2020 Auction.

Howell, who has been representing Rangpur Riders in the Bangladesh Premier League for three seasons now, is a right-hand batsman and right-hand pacer,  a combination which suits well with the T20 format of the tournament.

Howell might not have returned with the expected numbers in this season but it appears that his fourth T20 half-century banged the drums for him. In the first qualifier match against Comilla Victorians, Howell rescued his team with a determined innings and posted a respectable total on the board.

Coming in to bat at No. 6 (76-4) in the 13th over, Howell ended up scoring 53* (28) with the help of three fours and five sixes to aid Riders to score 165-5 in their allotted quota of 20 overs. While Riders lost the match, it spoke highly about Howell’s potential.

Talking about his bowling, Howell has picked up five wickets in seven matches at an average of 24.80, an economy rate of 5.63 and a strike rate of 26.4.

In a recent interview with Cric Frenzy, Howell opened up on how de Villiers likes his overall game. “He did [promised me regarding the IPL auction], yeah. He likes what I do. He said, next year he will put my name in the IPL.

“He likes what I do. I just got to keep doing it and perform with the bat and the bowl. Yeah, it’s pretty good to speak with him,” Howell was quoted as saying.

Hailing the Riders’ setup as ‘great’, Howell also opened up on the experience of playing alongside international cricketers. “I love it. Rangpur is great. It’s a great set up. Tom Moody runs the show pretty well and there is a lot of unbelievable players in the side. AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Alex Hales, Rilee Rossouw and Ravi Bopara, everyone. It’s has been a great experience,” he added.

Post Edited By: Jatin Hasija
AB de Villiers Benny Howell BPL 2019 IPL 2020

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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