The Indian Premier League (IPL) auctions over the years, have affirmed the statement that 'money isn't always honey.' The cash has been splashed on players like anything...sometimes it hits bulls-eye, sometime it fails so miserably that the stinging continues for several years.
Much like betting...but the truth be told that not all costly players in the IPL have the power to deliver. We just hope IPL 2017 doesn't continue this trend. The IPL 2017 auction is just a few days away!
Read: The best value-for-money buys in IPL history.
Let's turn back the pages of history to point out some of the biggest mistakes ever committed in the IPL auctions. We have gotten the perfect examples of how the players became a hero from zero!
Biggest mistakes of IPL auctions
- Chennai Super Kings buying Andrew Flintoff in 2009.
Comes as a shocker, doesn't it? Flintoff is a veteran cricketer and was a specialist in all forms of the game during his prime. Chennai Super Kings (CSK), one of the most successful teams in the IPL, targeted him and made him one of the costliest buys in the history of the cricket tournament, sensing that the Englishman would lead them to a plethora of success.
Bad news: CSK got trolled!
- Flintoff was purchased at the IPL 2009 auction for $1.55 million (around 9.66 crore INR).
- The total number of games Flintoff played for CSK in the IPL was THREE.
- He took a total of two wickets from those games and scored 62 runs.
- Flintoff returned home for an emergency knee surgery and declared retirement a year later.
- Flintoff is also a part-time pro boxer now.
- Delhi Daredevils purchasing Pawan Negi for Rs 8.5 crore.
The memory from the IPL 2016 auction is still fresh and this can go into history as one of the biggest gambles ever during the IPL auction. Negi, who was a 23-year-old then, didn't have any massive record to boast his jaw-dropping price tag. Worse, he was yet to feature for the India senior side.
Good sense prevailed: Delhi Daredevils released him ahead of IPL 2017 auction.
- Pawan Negi played a total of eight matches.
- He scored a total of 57 runs with the highest score being 19.
- He took one wicket from 54 deliveries over eight matches, giving away 84 runs.
- Delhi Daredevils....again, purchasing Dinesh Karthik in 2014.
This may have not been as great a mistake from the Delhi franchisee at the IPL as was Pawan Negi, but the Daredevils acted exactly like their namesake, in splashing the cash like a daredevil -- $2.2 million (approx.Rs 12.5 crore) was the money they paid for Karthik...could you believe that?
What Delhi Daredevils actually thought while splashing this astronomical figure, will still remain a mystery!
- Karthik, 31, scored 325 runs over 14 matches, averaging 23.21.
- He was signed by Gujarat Lions during the IPL 2016 auction for 2.3 crores INR.
- Karthik is married to Indian squash glam-girl Dipika Pallikal.
