IPL 2019: 3 high-profile Indian players who may go unsold at the auction
The Indian Premier League 2019 players' auction is set to take place on December 18, 2018 in Jaipur. All the eight franchises have submitted their list of retained and released players on November 15 which also included some of the biggest decisions taken.
Release of players like Glenn Maxwell, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Mitchell Starc etc. from their respective sides was a major decision while retaining underperforming players like Chris Gayle, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Stokes etc. from last year.
Let's look at three high-profile Indian players who may go unsold in the IPL 2019 auctions:
1. Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh, who was dropped from Kings XI Punjab’s last league match in the previous IPL season, has played only seven List A matches since then. The 36-year-old managed just 65 runs in 8 matches at a paltry average of 10.83. Since the IPL 2018, the left-handed batsman has scored just one half-century for Punjab
After seeing such performances from him in recent times, it will be really difficult for any side to pick him in the upcoming auctions for the sake of name that he has established over the years.
2.Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles, experienced a completely horrible last season with his home side Delhi Daredevils. The opening batsman moved himself to Delhi to help the team better their records, but unfortunately Gambhir failed miserably along with the entire side.
After recording just one win in six matches, the skipper decided to step away from the position of captaincy and not only just that, he didn't play even a single game after that during the rest of the season.
Gambhir can only find a place by dint of his performance in the recently-concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he finished as the second-highest scorer in the tournament with 518 runs.
3.Mohammed Shami
The Indian spearhead Mohammed Shami didn’t have a great IPL season last year with the Delhi Daredevils as he picked up only four wickets in the three matches that he played at an average of 48. Moreover, he conceded runs at an economy of 10.40 runs per over in the competition.
The 28-year-old, who played his last T20I in July 2017, hasn’t played a T20 match since April and his this lack of playing limited-overs cricket for India will be a major reason if he doesn't get picked in the upcoming auctions.