3 Indian players who could have kept themselves at a higher base price for IPL 2024 Auction ft. Kartik Tyagi
A slew of talented players will be up for grabs for the franchises in the upcoming 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) mini-auction. The event will be held overseas for the first time since its inception, with Dubai slated to play host on December 19.
Ahead of the auction, the IPL released the official list of players who will go under the hammer. A total of 333 players have enlisted their name, out of which 214 are Indians and 119 are overseas players. The franchises had already submitted their list of retained and released players on November 26 itself.
One of the most prized commodity in the auction is naturally home-grown players as they comprise the bulk of the squad. Indian players will always be in demand, and irrespective of whether they are capped or uncapped, setting the base price can be a tricky prospect, considering the auction dynamics.
On that note, let us take a look at Indian players who could have kept themselves at a higher base price for IPL 2024 Auction.
#1 Shivam Mavi
Shivam Mavi's career trajectory has taken a weird turn, to say the least, in 2023. The young pacer was released by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) after a disappointing 2022 season, where he played only six matches, taking five wickets at an economy rate of 10.32.
The 2018 U-19 World Cup member was roped in for a huge sum of ₹6 crore by the Gujarat Titans (GT) at the IPL 2023 mini-auction, which led to his maiden national team call-up as well.
Mavi began the year with a stellar 4-22 spell in his international debut against Sri Lanka and was poised to play a huge role in GT's title defense in IPL 2023. However, surprisingly, he failed to make a single appearance over the course of the season, and now finds himself back in the auction pool after being released by the franchise.
However, he might have undervalued himself a bit too much in this scenario as he set his base price at only ₹50 lakh.
#2 Shahrukh Khan
Pinch hitters are highly valued in the league, but teams also demand instant results from such players. Shahrukh Khan came into the IPL 2022 mega-auction as one of the most sought-after players, and he was roped in by the Punjab Kings (PBKS) for an astonishing sum of ₹9 crore.
However, his stint with the franchise did not pan out as hoped, as he only scored 273 runs in 21 matches. The 2014 IPL finalists finally ran out of patience, and released the Tamil Nadu star to free up their purse.
Despite his misfortunes in the IPL, Shahrukh has been a consistent prospect on the domestic circuit and is still at his dangerous best when it comes to death overs.
Much like Mavi, he might have undervalued what the could bring to the table for the franchises and set a base price of only ₹40 lakh.
#3 Kartik Tyagi
The emerging pacer had a promising start to his career following the 2018 U-19 World Cup. He had a solid spell with the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in his formative years before moving to the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) after a couple of seasons.
Much was expected from Kartik Tyagi at SRH, particularly with Dale Steyn as the head coach. However, he only availed limited opportunites, in which he was far from good. The pacer has played only five matches since 2022, claiming only a couple of wickets at a poor economy rate. He was behind the likes of T Natarajan and Umran Malik in the pecking order at SRH.
Tyagi now has a chance to start afresh, and several franchises will be keeping an eye on him. He has been among the wickets in the Vijay Hazare campaign and is among the best uncapped Indian pacers around. His talent is evident and teams could pay a solid sum to round up their pace department by signing him.
Tyagi has only set his base price at a modest sum of ₹20 lakh. It reflects his state of confidence at the moment, inclining to play it safe with almost a bare minimum base price.
Which of these aforementioned players will fetch the highest sum at the IPL 2024 mini-auction? Let us know what you think.