IPL 2019: 5 unsold players from last season who might be hot properties at this year's auction
The 2019 IPL auction will be held at 'Pink City' Jaipur on Tuesday, the 18th of December. As usual, several international stars will go under the hammer during the much-anticipated curtain-raiser for season 12 of the league.
Though the venue for IPL 2019 still remains a mystery, the auctions will go ahead as planned from 3 PM to 9.30 PM. Several stars are in the fray to land lucrative contracts based on their credentials in the shortest format of the game.
With the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup slated to take place from May 30 to July 14, many cricket boards are reluctant to let their players compete in full-throttle cricket right until the end of May. That would throw a new twist in deciding which players to pick at the auction, as some of the biggest stars may not be available for the full duration of the tournament.
Many big names who went unsold at the 2018 auctions are now in contention again, after impressing the cricketing fraternity with their exploits this year. Let us now look at five unsold players from the 2018 IPL who might be the most expensive buys of this year's auctions.
5. Jason Holder
Holder began his IPL stint with the Chennai Super Kings in season 6 after being bought for US$ 20,000 during the 2013 auctions. The all-rounder, who won the 2016 ICC World T20 with the West Indies in India under skipper Darren Sammy, has represented two other IPL franchises in his career - the Sunrisers Hyderabad (2014 and 2015) and Kolkata Knight Riders (2016).
After being released by the two-time winners KKR ahead of the 2017 auctions, the current West Indies Test and ODI skipper went unsold at a base price of INR 1.5 crore. Many thought he was unlucky to miss out on an IPL contract last season owing to his high base price.
2018 has been a memorable year for the Barbadian, who has displayed fine all-round performances in both Tests and ODIs. During the recent Test and ODI series against hosts India, Holder looked good with both bat (71 runs in two Tests, 161 runs in five ODIs) and the ball (five wickets in Tests and two in ODIs).
With age (27) and form on his side, the Windies skipper, who has 638 runs and 61 wickets in T20s, might land a lucrative IPL 2019 contract.