The Indian Premier League (IPL) mega players’ auction witnessed some surprising scenes in Bengaluru on Saturday. While the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Harshal Patel, and David Warner led to some intense bidding wars, there were several renowned cricketers who failed to attract buyers on the first day of the auctions. However, they are expected to get picked in the accelerated round of bidding on Sunday.
Former India all-rounder Suresh Raina, registered at a base price of Rs 2 crore, was the first in the lot who went unsold. After representing Chennai Super Kings for 12 seasons, he failed to find a buyer in the mega auctions. Also recognized as Mr. IPL, Raina has scored more than 5000 runs in 205 matches, including 39 fifties and a hundred.
Next in the unsold list of players was ace South African batter David Miller (base price Rs 1 crore), who represented Rajasthan Royals in the previous edition. He has played 89 games and has 1974 runs to his name, including 10 half-centuries.
To everyone’s surprise, Australia batter Steve Smith also missed out on a contract at the auctions. He registered himself for the auctions at a base price of Rs 2 crore. Despite having prior captaincy experience in the tournament, none of the franchises showed interest in buying him in the first round. Smith has played 103 games in the IPL, scoring 2485 runs, and also has a century and 11 fifties to his credit.
Shakib al Hasan, available at a base price of Rs 2 crore, one of the finest Asian all-rounders, also went unsold in the first round. After a decent outing in the IPL 2021, he was released by the Kolkata Knight Riders.
