The auction for the latest season of the Indian Premier League, the world’s biggest T20 cricket league, was conducted in Kerala 23rd of December 2022. Many players bagged some huge amounts in the Auction with teams not holding back before any splashing huge money.
England cricket team all-rounder Sam Curran became the most expensive buy in the history of the IPL Auction when Punjab Kings bought him for record 18.50 crore.
Meanwhile Aussie all-rounder Cameron Green became the 2nd highest valuable player to be bought in the IPL Auction when Mumbai Indians splashed 17.50 crore. Ben Stokes also found 16.25 crore from Chennai Super Kings.
All in all, no teams had any hesitation while going into bidding war for any player and they splurged huge money. IPL has always seen some of the greatest players ever play in the competition.
3 players who once went unsold in the IPL Auction but went on to become a star player
But do you know, there have been instances when some of the legends of the game and IPL were once remained unsold in the IPL Auction. Today in this article, we take a look at 3 legendary players who once went unsold in the IPL Auction.
Steve Smith
Steve Smith, the former captain of the Australian cricket team, is one of the best batsmen of the current era. Steve Smith’s stature is such that he is considered special in all three formats of the game. While he doesn’t play in the IPL currently, he has shown his quality in T20 cricket in the ongoing Big Bash League.
But there was a time when this Kangaroo player did not find any buyer in the IPL auction. In the 2012 auction, no franchise showed interest in buying Steve Smith. However, after this Smith was selected as a replacement by Pune Warriors India when Mitchell Marsh was ruled out due to injury.
Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle started his IPL career with the Kolkata Knight Riders. Gayle could not perform anything special for Kolkata though. Because of this, he had to enter the 2011 IPL auction but he did not find any buyer there. After this, Gayle was included by RCB as a replacement for one of their injured player. While playing for RCB, Gayle played many explosive innings and became one of the star players of that franchise.
Kieron Pollard
Kieron Pollard was unknown during the 2009 auction and went unsold. In the same year, playing for Trinidad and Tobago in the Champions League, he scored an 18-ball 54 against New South Wales and attracted everyone’s attention. After this, in the 2010 auction, Pollard was included in their team by the Mumbai Indians, after which Pollard played continuously in the IPL and remained a part of the of the Mumbai team until unless last year when he announced his retirement.