IPL 2018 : 5 players who would be disappointed by not going into the auction
IPL had a crazy auction this year. It was a two-day mega event which was held in Bengaluru. This year franchises showed interest in 169 players who were purchased at handsome prices.
IPL offers a platform to unknown talents to showcase their potential. This year 71 uncapped Indian players were purchased by the franchise.
Even players from Indian U-19 team that won the ICC World Cup in New Zealand 2018 were grabbed in this auction.
Prithvi Shaw and Kalra were picked by Delhi Daredevils while Shubman Gill went to KKR.
The Kolkata based franchise also purchased U-19 fast bowlers Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi in excess of 3 crores.
Last year, Afghanistan players made their debut and this year Sandeep Lamichhane became the first cricketer from Nepal to join the IPL.
This year, Ben Stokes was the player who attracted the highest bid. He was purchased by Rajasthan Royals for a price of 12.5 crores at the auction.
This year each franchise were pretty clear in their approach. Indian wicket-keeper batsmen were the hot picks in the auction.
Players like Ishan Kishan, Dinesh Karthik, Sanju Samson and Robin Uthappa received huge bids.
Franchises also showed a keen interest in fast bowlers. Jaydev Unadkat received an astonishing 11.5 crore bid.
Teams were pretty focused while purchasing foreign players. Game changers like Mitchell Starc, Chris Lynn, Jofra Archer and Rashid Khan signed huge deals with their respective teams.
There were players who were retained by the franchise prior to the auction. Most of these players received huge prices but there were some players who would be disappointed after the completion of the auction.
These players probably would have received more, if they had gone into the auction. Here are those players :
#5 Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant was the first choice for retention by Delhi Daredevils which decreased their purse by 15 crores, but his actual salary is 8 crores.
At the auction, wicketkeepers received huge deals. Sanju Samson received the highest bid of 8 crores by Rajasthan Royals.
So, Pant would be a little disappointed at the price after watching the auction. He could have got a higher price due to his recent form.
Pant was outstanding in this year's Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy. He scored 411 runs in 10 innings at a destructive strike rate of 195.71.
In a match against Himachal Pradesh, Pant scored a blitzkrieg 116* off just 38 balls which helped Delhi to chase down the target of 145 by 10 wickets and in just 11.3 overs.
This record shows his worth and all franchises would have been tempted to have him in their side.
Pant's clean and continuous hitting would have attracted a lot of bids in the auction.