Bevon-John Jacobs | PHOTOSPORT

IPL beckons for Bevon Jacobs

Bevon Jacobs could be forgiven if the last 12 hours have been something of a blur.

In that time, he's gone from a self-described "long shot", offered at a bargain basement price in the IPL auction, to being the newest batter picked up by the Mumbai Indians.

While it's come as a shock to the player himself, the Mumbai Indians' management knows a thing or two about cricket and no doubt are well aware of his long levers, clean striking, and ability to hit a long six.

Jacobs is a tall, South African-born Aucklander whose parents emigrated to New Zealand when he was three, and has come through the Auckland Cricket pathway and age-group system.

That, together with a short stint at Canterbury where he was doing his degree on a Lincoln University sports scholarship, part of which carries a requirement to be available for Canterbury Cricket whilst on the scholarship.

He didn't walk straight into the elite Canterbury squad, but caught some attention in local club cricket when he blasted a Christchurch Metro Cricket one-day knock of 178 off 138 balls for Sydenham in January 2023 - a record in the competition.

Bevon-John Jacobs hits a long ball | PHOTOSPORT

So it was there that he got his formal start in Domestic cricket, debuting for Canterbury in The Ford Trophy in November 2023, and then making his Dream11 Super Smash debut for the Canterbury Kings the following month.

Over the winter, a return to Auckland beckoned for the 22-year-old right-hander and he was named as one of a trio of new faces in the first round of men's Domestic playing contracts for the Auckland Aces this year, having returned to the city of Sails with enhanced credentials.

His cameos for Canterbury down the order had been head-turning, especially in the T20 format where he hit 134 runs at a strike rate of 188.73 (and 33.50 average) across six innings.

But perhaps what really put his name up in lights was a preseason stint in Queensland where he smashed 100 off 40 balls for South Brisbane against Toombull on his last day in Queensland’s premier T20 competition (outshining his batting partner, Brisbane Heat star Ben Cutting - who has graced four IPL teams himself).

The IPL auction on the other side of the world essentially runs overnight in NZ time, so Jacobs "went to bed, with my phone ringer off. I had training in the morning."

In one-day mode for Canterbury last season | PHOTOSPORT

"It was a pretty last-minute decision to put my name forward for the IPL auction, and I didn't really expect much. So it was a bit of a shock when I woke up at 5.30am with what seemed like a million messages.

"My phone was buzzing with all the notifications from family overseas who were able to watch it live. I thought they were pranking me, at first. It's surreal. A little bit overwhelming."

Just hours later he'd be standing at Auckland's home base in Sandringham, still trying to articulate what had happened and how he was feeling to journalists who knew a good story when they saw one.

In fact, it's more like a movie script.

"It's not something I expected to happen," continues Jacobs candidly, "so I'm grateful for this awesome opportunity, and I'll try to see how much I can learn over there in an incredible environment.

"I'll go over there with an open mind and learn as much as I can."

He's never been to India before, by the way.

And of the 1,574 players who registered themselves for the auction, he's one of the lucky few. Glenn Phillips (Gujarat Titans), Mitchell Santner (Mumbai Indians) and Lockie Ferguson (Punjab Kings) were the other Kiwis picked up, at considerably higher price tags.

Jacobs can head into this summer's Dream11 Super Smash - when he'll likely be making his Aces debut in the shortest format, to add to his Ford Trophy and Plunket Shield appearances this season so far - with a new sense of inner confidence.

But on the outside, he's making sure he says and does all the right things.

"The Auckland boys are all really chuffed for me which is cool, but the IPL is a few months away and what's important is putting my best foot forward for Auckland first, and what's ahead of me right now."

Which is a Plunket Shield match for the mid-table Aces against his old teammates from Canterbury at Kennards Hire Community Oval at Eden Park, from this Thursday.

He's still so fresh on the circuit, there are a fair few players he hasn't met yet, and IPL veterans Tim Southee and Trent Boult are among them.

Maybe one day he'll get to follow in some other footsteps of theirs.

"Making the BLACKCAPS has been a dream of mine since I was a young kid, so that's my big one," says Jacobs.

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