IPL 2018: Five overseas players who deserved contracts
Cricket is a fast-paced game. Players who were once at the peak of international fame have slipped from the spotlight into the abyss and new young stars are quickly replacing them.
This was manifest in the IPL Auction, where some old IPL faces found themselves unwanted and overlooked in favour of rising prospects.
Indeed, established players like Ishant Sharma and all-time leading wicket-taker Lasith Malinga were snubbed during the bidding.
However, they were not the only ones. This article looks at five overseas players who deserved an IPL contract.
#5 Shaun Marsh
Australian batsman Shaun Marsh was one of the unlucky players who went unsold in the auction.
However, Marsh's IPL record is sublime. The left-hander is the Kings XI Punjab's all-time leading run scorer and was even the orange cap holder in the first ever IPL.
Marsh has scored 2,477 runs in the IPL and has the highest average out of any Punjab player who has played in over 20 innings.
As a point of comparison, the South African David Miller has scored just 1,687 runs in the same number of matches and for the same franchise. Miller, though, will be playing in Punjab for another season.
Moreover, Marsh's Ashes form was strong. He scored 445 runs in the five-test series and ended with a very impressive average of 74 against a strong England bowling line-up. Despite the rather steep base price of 1.5 crores, it is a mystery why the experienced Marsh was not snapped up in the auction.