IPL 2018: 4 impressive players who went unsold in the first round of auction
It is a well-known fact that the IPL is half-won at the auction table. Teams bid for their target players and some teams might be ready to buy them at any cost. Each franchise have a specific budget for their target players.
The costly buys in the auction always have an extra pressure to perform well and this pressure has had drastic effects in their performance.
However, some of the best players in this year's have not been the costly buys, but the bargain buys that have worked wonders for the team. Ambati Rayudu and Chris Gayle are the best examples of bargain buys.
Here, we will look at the top players who were surprisingly unsold in the first round of the auction.
#4 Tim Southee
New Zealand spearhead Tim Southee was acquired by the Royal Challengers Bangalore at his base price of 1 crore during the second round of the auction. Though he got to figure in the starting XI only during RCB's sixth game against Kolkata Knight Riders, he has made the most use of it.
Southee replaced the out-of-form Corey Anderson and this change has proved to be worthy for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
He has played a total of 7 games so far this season where he has taken 5 wickets at a noteworthy economy of 7.93. He single-handedly won the match for Royal Challengers Bangalore against his former team Mumbai Indians where they defended a below-par score of 167.
He also played a crucial knock of 36* against Chennai Super Kings in a pitch where modern-day batting greats like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers failed to reach even double-digit numbers.
Buying Tim Southee at his base price has come as a blessing in disguise for RCB.