Ishant Sharma didn’t find any buyer in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction 2017 and this came as a big shock for his fans. Ishant is one of the most experienced fast bowlers in India but no IPL franchise made a bid for him, while other Indian fast bowlers like Varun Aaron were sold for much more than their base price. Even Munaf Patel, who hasn’t played competitive cricket for a long time was sold in IPL auction 2017.
Many believe that Ishant is now more of a Test bowler and this is why teams overlooked him in the auction. But, according to a team owner, who was present in the auction, it was Ishant’s high base price that kept franchises away from him. Ishant’s base price was INR 2 crore and with limited-budget in their purses, team owners were looking for much cheaper options.
“Ishant Sharma shouldn’t have kept his base price at INR 2 crores. Firstly, he doesn’t play for India in T20s and (is) not considered a white ball bowler. He is only playing Test cricket. Ideally, he should have shed his ego and kept his base price in the range of INR 30 lakhs. Varun Aaron gained just because of that even though Ishant probably has more quality”, an IPL team’s top boss present in the auction was quoted as saying by Sportskeeda.
Even Kolkata Knight Riders’ captain and Ishant’s Delhi and India teammate Gautam Gambhir said that Ishant’s base price was too high. Gambhir was the only captain present in the IPL auction 2017.
