10 international stars snubbed at IPL auctions
The Indian Premier League has taken the cricketing world by storm and it may not be long before players from across the globe give preference to T20 leagues over international matches for their country.
The world has already seen cricketers going freelance, with Andrew Flintoff, the first among them. The IPL started with a huge uproar in 2008 and has gone on to become the most endeared cricket league in the world.
Apart from the huge money involved, the sheer experience of rubbing shoulders with the legends of the game have seen thousands of domestic cricketers from across the globe flock to these leagues.
The IPL auctions have invited large anticipation over the years to see which players go to which franchises and for what amount. But a good number of players have had the misfortune of being unsold in the auctions despite boasting great numbers for their country or club.
A glance through the 9 seasons of this mega event shows a number of talented, experienced stars missing out in the auctions. Let us take a look at some of them:
#1 Shakib Al-Hasan (2009, 2010)
A talented cricketer from Bangladesh, this left-handed all-rounder was given the raw deal in the auctions in 2009 and 2010. He was ranked first in the ODI all-rounders list in 2009, but none of the eight teams could find a way to fit in this superstar.
Team-mate, Mashrafe Mortaza at the time commented, "I would have been a lot happier if Shakib had got a team because he truly deserved it for his sensational form with the bat and ball". Mortaza was right.
His numbers in T20 suggested that he deserved to be picked by a team. Shakib averages 24 with the bat with 6 half-centuries and a top score of 84 in T20I, besides taking 65 wickets in 54 matches.
The franchises seemed to have studied more about him after 2010 and he was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders in 2011 for US$425,000 and he continues his association with the club to this day. He went on to play in the Bangladesh Premier League in 2012 as an 'icon player' and later for Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash and Barbados Tridents in the Caribbean Premier League.
His all-round performance for KKR in 2014 inspired the team to their first IPL triumph. He scored 227 runs in 11 innings and also picked up 11 wickets in that season of the tournament.