England may be the number one ranked T20I side in the world, but they are not, however, the most represented overseas side in the IPL – that accolade goes to Australia.

There are 13 English players set to feature in this year’s IPL. Though the majority of England’s squad for their ongoing tour have IPL gigs in 2021, for whatever reason, there is a collection of high profile players without contracts for 2021 both inside and outside the current England squad.

Here’s a look at five players without contracts in 2021 who theoretically would improve one or more of the IPL franchises:

Adil Rashid (CSK, KKR, RCB, RR)

Though there are sound reasons why Adil Rashid is yet to feature in the IPL – mostly, the high volume of excellent domestic spinners – it’s hard not to think that Rashid would improve a number of franchises.

A world-class leg-spinner whose batting ability is perhaps under-appreciated due to it generally being rendered superfluous by England’s immense depth, Rashid would arguably be an upgrade on Imran Tahir – who will be 42 by the start of this year’s tournament – at CSK. The South African played just three games in the 2020 competition.

A similar argument could be made about KKR’s Sunil Narine, who took five wickets from 10 games in last year’s edition, and has struggled with his bowling action. At RCB, Rashid would offer a similar option to Adam Zampa with the ball but his ability to bat at eight could offer the side a touch more flexibility. Rashid would also be a more than useful player to have at Rajasthan Royals’ disposal. The Royals are one of the few sides in the tournament without a truly elite spinner, though given the paucity of domestic quicks at the franchise they’re unlikely to use an overseas slot on a spinner.

Alex Hales/Jason Roy (MI, RCB)

Given their similar roles, we’ve lumped the pair together. In his period outside the England set-up, Hales has transformed himself into one of the best T20 openers going while Roy, even taking his recent struggle for form into account, remains an outstanding opener who scores quicker than most in the powerplay.

As it is for wrist-spinners, competition for overseas top-order batting slots is fierce. The obvious places where they’d prove to be upgrades would be at Mumbai Indians and RCB. At Mumbai, granted, this would be an upgrade on a player who generally sits on the bench, Chris Lynn and at RCB, ahead of unproven New Zealand opener Finn Allen who was brought in to replace Josh Philippe who will miss this year’s tournament.

Mark Wood (CSK, RCB, MI, RR)

Mark Wood is a changed bowler to the man who played just once in the 2018 tournament. Since elongating his run-up, Wood’s pace is more consistently up and around and 90mph, making him one of the quickest bowlers on the planet. A key figure in England’s 2019 World Cup win, if the opening T20I against India is anything to go by, he’ll be a crucial cog in England’s T20 World Cup pursuit.

Wood, who opted out of the 2021 tournament but has been overlooked in the past, would likely be an upgrade on a number of overseas quicks. Reasonable cases could be made that Wood would improve CSK’s, MI’s, RCB’s, and RR’s overseas pace bowling stocks.

Joe Root (DC)

The most contentious choice on this list. That Root isn’t in England’s current T20 squad is no major slight on his ability as a T20 batsman, such is the extraordinary batting depth at England’s disposal. He was, after all, one of the players of the most recent global T20 tournament. While he didn’t put himself forward for the 2021 IPL auction, he has been snubbed before, and has never played an IPL game.

Factor in his more than serviceable off-spin for the odd over here and there to make the most of particular match-ups, and you’ve still got an excellent T20 cricketer.

Would Steve Smith, now at Delhi, get into the England XI? Probably not either. Root would arguably offer slightly more in both departments to Smith.

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