3 players who went unsold in an IPL Auction and became a team's captain within next 3 years ft. Rajat Patidar
Rajat Patidar will lead the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League. This will be Patidar's first season as a captain in the IPL.
Patidar made his IPL debut for RCB and has played for them ever since. The right-handed batter was an uncapped player when the Royal Challengers picked him back in 2021. He made his debut on April 9, 2021, against Mumbai Indians, where he scored eight runs off eight balls.
In the next game, Rajat got out for just one run against Kolkata Knight Riders. At that time, he would not have imagined that he would captain RCB in IPL 2025. His journey has been full of ups and downs, as he even went unsold once in the auction.
Without further ado, let's have a look at three such players who went unsold in an IPL auction and then became a team's captain within the next three years.
#1 Rajat Patidar - Unsold in 2022, Captain in 2025
Rajat Patidar made his IPL debut for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2021. He played four matches that season, where he scored 71 runs. RCB did not retain him ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction. Surprisingly, none of the teams signed him then.
However, Patidar later got a call from RCB to join in as a replacement signing, and he went on to have a breakthrough season in 2022. He scored 333 runs in eight matches at an average of 55.50.
Patidar's century in the Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants transformed him into a superstar. Now, in IPL 2025, Patidar is all set to captain RCB.
#2 Aiden Markram - Unsold in 2021, Captain in 2023
South African star Aiden Markram went unsold in the IPL 2021 auction despite his noticeable returns in the international arena. But during the second leg of the tournament in 2021, Punjab Kings roped him in as a replacement signing.
Markram went on to score 146 runs in six matches for PBKS before switching to Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2022.
After Markram led SRH's sister franchise Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the inaugural SA20 championship in 2023, Sunrisers Hyderabad named Markram as their captain for the 2023 IPL season.
#3 Darren Sammy - Unsold in 2012, Captain in 2014
West Indies legend Darren Sammy made his T20I captaincy debut for West Indies in 2011. He led the Caribbean side to the T20 World Cup in 2012 but had to wait until 2013 to get an IPL cap.
Sunrisers Hyderabad picked Sammy ahead of the 2013 season. A year later, Sammy got a chance to lead the SRH franchise in four matches. The Orange Army registered two wins and two losses under Sammy's captaincy.
The franchise released him ahead of the next season, and he then moved to RCB in 2015.