The IPL 2022 mega-auction is less than a week away and fans are excited about the two-day event, to be held on February 12 and 13 in Bangalore.
The player auction list has been released by the board in which a total of 590 cricketers are set to go under the hammer, amongst those 228 are capped players, 355 are uncapped players and 7 belong to Associate Nations. A total of 370 Indian players and 220 overseas players will be up for grabs.
There have plenty of big names on the list and as many as 48players have chosen to place themselves in the highest bracket with a 2 crore price. There are good reasons to believe that some big names won’t be sold in the mega-auction.
10 Big Name Players Who May Go Unsold In The Mega Auction:
Aaron Finch
Australia’s limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch led his side to the T20 World Cup title last year but his own form with the bat has been underwhelming. Apart from the fact that he hasn’t set international cricket on fire in the last year, there are plenty of other in-form overseas and Indian opening options in the auction.
He last featured in the IPL 2020 for RCB. After being released Finch went unsold in the last auction and is not expected to interest any bidders this time either; keeping a base price of 1.5 crore would further disinterest the franchises in his services.
Kedar Jadhav
Kedar Jadhav’s numbers have been nothing short of abysmal in the past three seasons: 279 runs in 28 matches while striking at less than run-a-ball! He was with SRH last season and the franchise gave him 6 games, but Jadhav failed to make an impression. Placed in the all-rounder category with a base price set at 1 crore, we may have seen the last of Jadhav, 36, in the IPL.
Craig Overton
Craig Overton, who has not played a single T20I for England, has boldly put his base price at 2 crore. He has featured in 63 T20 matches though, but has an unexceptional record of 58 wickets at an average of 30 apart from featuring in 6 Tests and 4 ODIs. There’s a high chance that the lanky Somerset seamer will go unsold.
Cheteshwar Pujara
In the last auction there was a round of applause as a mark of respect and appreciation when the Chennai Super Kings bought Cheteshwar Pujara in the auction. This time, it may not be the case since Pujara could go unsold in the mega-auction. Although his base price is 50 lakhs, how much could the franchise bank on the Test specialist Pujara who has not played a T20 domestic game since 2019?
Matthew Wade
Despite his annual pyrotechnics in the BBL, Matthew Wade has gone unsold in the IPL auctions for the past decade; he has been bought only once in the IPL auction – in 2011 by Delhi. The premier reason for that is he bats in the top-order for Hobart Hurricanes while IPL franchises are filled with Indian top-order options.
He has, though, shown his skill set as a finisher for Australia in T20Is, however, with several other all-rounder finishing options available, franchises are likely to sway the other way than the 34-year-old Wade who has set his base price at 2 crore.
James Vince
England’s James Vince is one of the classiest batsmen going around. He is among the fringe players in the England squads and is renowned for his elegance and superb timing
But Vince has decided to enter the IPL 2022 mega-auction at the highest price slab – of 2 crore. That would have exacerbated his chances to be bought apart from the fact that other batsmen who have shown more consistency and game-changing capabilities than Vince are also in the auction.
Heinrich Klaasen
Heinrich Klaasen was at Rajasthan Royals in the 2018 season and with Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2019 and had gone unsold in the last two auctions after averaging 13 in 7 matches in those two seasons combined. A destructive finisher at one time, Klaasen has also lost his place in South Africa’s eleven.
Ishant Sharma
33-year-old Ishant Sharma is at the fag end of his career and has been troubled with injuries in the past couple of years. He was with Delhi Capitals last season and featured in only 3 matches managing to take merely 1 wicket.
Since the last IPL Ishant has played only 4 Tests, going wicketless in the last two. A base price of 1.5 crore would further turn the franchises looking for younger options.
Dawid Malan
Dawid Malan, the former number 1 ICC T20I batter, was snapped up by Punjab Kings last year and batted only once in the season, scoring a run-a-ball 26. It is possible that that innings could be Malan’s only knock in the IPL, as he is now England’s all-format player, having gotten recalled to the Test side last summer.
He has set his base price at 1.5 crore, the may possibly dissuade the franchises to hunt for younger and more muscular batters than the 34-year-old Malan.
Ashton Agar
Australia’s left-arm orthodox bowling all-rounder Ashton Agar has never played in the IPL so far. There is a good chance that he may not play this season as well if he doesn’t get bought in the mega-auction.
He was part of Australia’s squad that won the T20 World Cup last year, although he played in only one game, and recently won the BBL with Perth Scorchers in which he played a crucial role with both bat and ball.
However, Agar, who was unsold in the past two auctions, has put himself in the highest bracket of 2 crore. With an abundance of local spinners available, many of them who could bat well, Agar is unlikely to get buyers this time also.
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