Is Richard Levi on Pune Warriors' radar?

Richard Levi, South Africa's swashbuckling opener who smacked 117 off 51 balls in the Sunday's T20 against New Zealand in Hamilton, is likely to become the next hot property of the Indian Premier League.

According to a New Zealand Herald report, Sahara Pune Warriors, who have been allowed by the BCCI to re-open the trading purse after they boycotted the scheduled IPL auction on February 4, are said to have made a bid of USD 400,000 for Levi.

Levi was not wanted in the IPL auction early this month. But thirteen sixes later, most of which would have cleared significantly longer boundaries than the 8-irons of Seddon Park and are a world record, he could perhaps be the next big thing in the cash-rich T20 tournament.

"That innings was one of the few when you get to see someone in full cry. If he can replicate that consistently over the course of his career I'm sure he's going to be pretty well sought after," New Zealand stand-in skipper Brendon McCullum said.

McCullum's brother Nathan and his teammate Jesse Ryder also play for the Pune Warriors. One will have to wait to see if Levi and Ryder open the batting for Pune? But Levi can be a good catch in the absence of Yuvraj Singh.