The IPL 2023 mini-auction was a one-day affair that saw some really high biddings that shattered all previous records. Sam Curran, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, and Cameron Green were some of the costliest buys. However, some popular names couldn’t find a place in any franchise. Let’s have a look at those names.
Best-unsold XI from IPL 2023 mini-auction
1. Paul Stirling
Paul Stirling has had experiences in popular leagues like Caribbean Premier League, Pakistan Super League, Big Bash League, Lanka Premier League, The Hundred, and also the Abu Dhabi T10 League. He performed consistently, and in 319 T20s, he has mustered 7,800 plus runs with fifty half-centuries. Sadly, he had a poor show in 2022, that destroyed the interest of IPL franchises in acquiring his services.
2. Priyank Panchal
Priyank Panchal has had a good track record in domestic cricket but failed to acquire a place in a franchise. Panchal has been leading the Gujarat team in domestic cricket and has a high chance of representing India in Test cricket. He amassed 12,270 runs in domestic cricket and his leadership skills were spotted while he guided India A.
3. Abhimanyu Easwaran
India A skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran didn’t find a buyer even when his base price was Rs 20 lakh. He is a member of Team India and expected a franchise to buy him. He made his domestic debut in 2013 and scored 9,680 runs in three formats altogether. He was the replacement for Rohit Sharma in the recently concluded Test series against Bangladesh and still no franchise showed interest to acquire this talent.
4. Dawid Malan
Dawid Milan is one of the best batters from England in all formats. He was once the top-ranked batter in the T20I rankings which earned him an IPL contract. He got only one match to play where he scored 26. Despite being the leading rin-getter in the Hundred 2022, no franchise showed interest in acquiring him.
5. Baba Indrajit
Baba Indrajit made his first-class debut in Tamil Nadu in 2013 and has been one of the most important members of the batting line-up. He mustered over 4,000 runs in first-class cricket with a very good average of over 52.44. He was featured in 23 T20s and scored 340 runs. In 2022, he was chosen as the wicket-keeper for KKR and could only score 21 in three innings. His poor performance led to Kolkata Knight Riders releasing him.
6. Priyam Garg
Priyam Garg led the U19 team in the 2019-20 edition and the team finished as the runner-up. He was later picked up by SRH in 2020. He scored 133 in 14 games. In one match he did score an unbeaten 5. In 2022, he got to play only two games and amassed 46 runs. His form for UP in domestic cricket wasn’t the best and none of the teams took the risk of bidding on him.
7. Shashank Singh
Shashank was part of the Rajasthan Royals squad in 2029 and 2020. He got to play for Sunrisers Hyderabad and his unbeaten 25 off six balls against Gujarat Titans grabbed everyone’s attention. He smashed three sixes consecutively to Lockie Ferguson but unfortunately couldn’t continue his performance n the next matches.
8. Sanjay Yadav
Last year, Yadav was picked by Mumbai Indians but didn’t get any opportunity to play and ultimately got released. In the Tamil Nadu Premier League, his spinning skills have been appreciated and in the 2022 edition, he was the top-scorer smashing 452 runs in nine games at a strike rate of 186.77. Most of the franchise looked for pace bowlers and which didn’t favour him.
9. Mohammad Nabi
As per the ICC rankings, Mohammad Nabi is the second-best all-rounder in the T20s. In last year’s IPL he scored 163 runs and scalped 11 wickets so it’s quite shocking for him to not get a place in any team. His ability to bowl at any over adds to his versatility.
10. Shreyas Gopal
Earlier, Shreyas Gopal represented Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, and Sunrisers Hyderabad. He scalped 49 wickets and was a good batter as well. Things went south for him since he couldn’t scalp a single wicket for SRH in 2022. In domestic cricket too, he gave an average performance.
11. Chris Jordan
In T20 World Cup 2022, he scalped three wickets against India in the semi-finals and a few wickets against Pakistan in the final. His performance in death overs was impressive and has an experience in several domestic leagues like IPL, CPL, and PSL. last year he played for CSJK and bagged only two wickets which may have made the management of different teams not bid for him.
Read more: IPL franchises not happy with mini-auctions, request BCCI to continue with mega auctions
