4 Faded stars of IPL Auction
The Indian Premier League is undoubtedly one of the most popular and marketable leagues across the world. It has been a stepping stone for cricketers to show their proclivity in a grand manner.
The IPL Auction always surprises the fans with huge amounts of money being spent on various cricketers. It is aptly said that the IPL is half-won at the auction table. All the teams have their task cut out in the auction and they abide by their strategies and allot specific budget for their target players.
The IPL Auction has led to several cases of Rags to Riches story. While some of the cricketers ensured a longer run in the Indian Premier League due to their consistency, others couldn't prove their worth and have found themselves out of the scheme of things.
Here, we take a look at those faded stars of IPL Auction.
#4 Cheteshwar Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara, one of the mainstays of the Indian Test team hasn't been able to live up to the expectations in Indian Premier League. The middle-order batsman has had unsuccessful stints in the IPL with Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
He broke the headlines when he was bought for a whopping price of 3.22 crore INR by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2011 IPL Auction. However, he faltered due to the skyrocketing expectations and later went on to play for Kings XI Punjab in 2014. In his 30 appearances in the IPL, he has managed just 390 runs at an awful strike-rate of 99.74.
Cheteshwar Pujara's over-defensive play is clearly not suited to the T20 format and it has led teams to neglect him during the auctions. He found no takers in the recently-concluded IPL 2019 Auction.