Being selected and bought in the IPL auction is a dream to come true for many upcoming players across the World. There are, however, a few unlucky players who have usually turned up without any success.
The quality of play and price tag make IPL unique for cricketers.
5 Players Who Remained Unsold In The IPL Auction Most Of The Times:
1. Nathon Lyon- 5 times:
In the longer format, Nathan Lyon has always troubled the Indian team but has not found favor of the IPL franchises who have frequently turned him down at the auction table. In 2014, Lyon entered IPL auction first time with the base price of 1 crore INR but he was unsold. The same story repeated in 2015 and 2016 at the same price.
Curiously, Lyon raised his base price to 1.5 crore INR for the IPL auction of 2017 and 2018 seasons. He is the most successful international player but in IPL he has been unsold for five consecutive seasons. Finally, in the season 2019, he did not enter his name into the auctions.
2. Cheteshwar Pujara- 5 times:
Cheteshwar Pujara is the only Indian player who went unsold for five or more seasons of IPL auctions. He played all the seasons of the IPL between 2010 and 2014. His last outing was with Kings XI Punjab in 2014. He seemed out of sorts in a team that included Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, and Virender Sehwag. In the 2014 season, in a match against Rajasthan Royals, Pujara scored an unbeaten 40 off 38 balls. Even that knock didn’t help cement his position in the shortest format.
As a result, Pujara failed to be sold in auctions of 2015, 2016 and 2017 seasons. In 2018, his name didn’t turn up at the auction table. In the 2019 and 2020 seasons, he entered but failed to attract any of the 8 franchises at his base price.
3. Vernon Philander- 5 times:
Vernon Philander is another top international star to go unsold in the IPL auctions for 5 different seasons. In 2016, his base price was only 50 lakhs which is the lowest price tag for a capped foreign player The South African pacer was never on the auction table after that.
Philander was either not shortlisted or he did not register for the recent auctions. He was a part of the 2010 IPL auction with the base price of 50,000 USD. He returned to the 2011 IPL auction at the same base price but went unsold.
He claimed 30 wickets in his Test debut in the 2011/12 season across four tests. Unfortunately, he found that none of the franchises were willing to pick him up. In 2012, he registered his base price at 200,000 USD but went unsold. He also went unsold in the auctions in the 2013 and 2014 seasons where even his base price was 100,000 USD and 1 crore INR, respectively.
4. Darren Bravo- 5 times
Few pairs of brothers have been successful in the IPL but the Bravo brothers from the Caribbean had a different script in this league. Dwayne Bravo found favor with Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. But his brother Darren Bravo has not found it easy to be sold at the auctions.
Darren bravo managed to find an offer in the auctions for the 2012 and 2017 seasons with Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders, respectively. He went unsold in the IPL auctions for the 2011 seasons as well and couldn’t make it to the auction table.
Darren was not even among the shortlisted players at the 2020 auction.
5. Martin Guptill – 6 times
New Zealand’s player Martin Guptill, renowned for his big-hitting skills has struggled while playing on the Indian soil, a fact that turned against him for IPL franchises. Guptill failed to attract any offers in 2011, 213, 2014 and 2016, despite being on the auction table.
In 2018, he turned up twice at the auction table but no franchise showed interest. After going unsold in the 2020 season, he became the first player to remain unsold in the IPL auctions for six different seasons.
The first time he was picked in an IPL auction was for the 2017 season by the Kings XI Punjab at his base price of 50 lakhs INR. In 2019, Guptill was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for his base price of 1 crore INR. He was unsold in the first round later and was picked by SRH in the second round auction. In 2016 and 2018 seasons of the IPL, he was signed as a replacement for Mumbai Indians.
