The IPL auctions, in the past, have always thrown some major surprises with teams going all out for lesser-known players while turning a blind eye to established players for their own reasons. The IPL 2017 auction witnessed the same, as some big names of world cricket remained unsold, as a result of which, they will not feature in IPL 10.
Complete squad for all eight teams after IPL 2017 auction
One cannot blame the franchises for not picking quality stars, as they come with their homework well done. They come with a certain plan, and pick players within their budget and only go for a player, who can strengthen their squad.
Here are some good players, who remained unsold in IPL 2017 auction.
Imran Tahir
This has to be the biggest surprise in the IPL 2017 auction. Not a single team bid for the player, who has proved his worth in the international circuit. He has also played in the last three editions of the IPL, so he knows what it takes to play in the IPL. More than that, Tahir is the number one ranked T20I bowler in the world. One cannot fathom why IPL franchises did not even bid for him. The only reason, that even vaguely makes sense is that the South African might not be available for the entire length of IPL.
Ishant Sharma
One thing was for sure, all the teams were looking for fast bowlers during the auction to strengthen their squad, and Ishant Sharma, one thought, was sure to get an IPL 10 contract. All of us were fooled, as none of the eight teams showed interest in the pacer, who on song is one of the best bowlers in Indian cricket. May be, it was his base price of Rs 2 lakh, which might have turned off franchises.
Irfan Pathan
The Indian all-rounder, without a shadow of a doubt, is well past his prime, but still has plenty in his tank with both the bat and ball. With a base price of Rs 50 lakhs, he could have been an attractive auction and helped other players in the team with his IPL experience too. Despite a decent performance in the Mustaq Ali Trophy, teams turned a blind eye to the all-rounder.
Colin Munro
All-rounders are always in high-demand during the IPL auction, but not all of them can attract IPL owners as Mounro found it out on Monday. He underperformed for KKR last season, agreed, but he is someone, who has the potential to win matches single-handedly. It was his poor performance from last season (30 runs, no wickets in 4 IPL matches), which might have led to his snub.
Honourable Mentions from the list of unsold players - Jonny Bairstow, Kyle Abbott, Marlon Samuels, Alex Hales, Thisara Perera, Mohammad Shahzad and Evin Lewis.
