IPL 2023: Best Unsold XI from the Auction

The much-awaited Indian Premier League auction got concluded on Friday (December 23). The event saw the likes of Sam Curran, Ben Stokes, Cameron Green and Harry Brook attracting huge bids from the franchises. With a total of 87 available spots, the franchises filled 80 of them, with 29 of them being overseas. In this auction as well, some prominent foreign, as well as Indian players, could not find any bids in the auction. The reason could be the team’s combinations, remaining slots for each category, and the recent form of the players. Here is the best Unsold XI after the IPL 2023 auction. 1. Paul Stirling Paul Stirling has represented several franchise teams in almost domestic T20 leagues around the world. He has played in the Caribbean Premier League, Pakistan Super League, Big Bash League, Lanka Premier League, The Hundred and also the Abu Dhabi T10 League. The Irish star will feature in the forthcoming International League T20 as well. In these leagues, Stirling has performed well and consistently scored runs at a good strike rate. With his positive mindset, the 32-year-old is capable of hitting big shots and scoring runs at a brisk pace. In 319 T20s, the experienced batter has more than 7,800 runs, with 50 half-centuries and three tons. However, he was unsold due to his poor form in 2022. Stirling failed to churn out runs for his teams in The Hundred, Caribbean Premier League and Lanka Premier League. The inability to provide a blazing start in the recent games hurt his chances in the auction. 2. Priyank Panchal/Abhimanyu Easwaran Often they say IPL is a big platform for budding Indian players. However, they fail to mention that the franchises don’t generally prefer traditional players, who have a good track record in the red-ball format. Both these players, Priyank Panchal and Abhimanyu Easwaran have been stalwarts of domestic cricket, but could not find a bid. Since making his domestic debut in 2013, Easwaran has amassed 9,680 runs across three formats. Apart from Bengal, he has been a prominent player for India A. Moreover, he was chosen as the replacement for Rohit Sharma in the ongoing Test series against Bangladesh. Gujarat captain, Panchal has 12,270 runs in domestic cricket. In the last few years, he has come very close to representing India in Test cricket due to his consistency. The leadership qualities have often seen him captaining India A. 3. Dawid Malan (c) Over the years, Dawid Malan has established himself as one of England's leading batsmen across all formats. With solid technique and composure, he has played an anchor role for his respective teams in the franchise leagues as well. The southpaw was once the number-one batter in the T20I rankings, which got him an IPL contract as well. However, he could get only a solitary opportunity with Punjab Kings in 2021, wherein he scored 26. Despite emerging as the leading run-scorer in the Hundred 2022, Malan failed to get bids from the franchises. One of the key reasons for his unsold status was due to no requirement for an overseas batter in almost all the franchises. 4. Baba Indrajith (wk) Baba Indrajith made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu in 2013 and has been a key member of the team's batting line-up. He has scored over 4,000 runs in first-class cricket and has an impressive average of over 52.44. Moreover, he holds an average of 45.28 in 49 List-A matches. However, he has played only 23 T20s and has 340 runs at a paltry average of 17.89. In the last season, he was picked as a wicket-keeping option for Kolkata Knight Riders. Indrajith could not make use of the opportunity and scored only 21 runs in three innings. The performances resulted into his release and subsequently could not incite interest from any of the franchises. 5. Priyam Garg The proficient batter was the captain of the Indian U19 team in the 2019/20 edition, which finished as the runner-up. He was then picked up by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2020 edition, where he got an opportunity from the first game. Although Garg scored 133 runs in 14 games, his knock of 51* resulted in the cricket fraternity praising his talent. In the subsequent edition, Garg garnered 72 runs in five games, while he could get an opportunity in two games in 2022, scoring 46 runs. Garg’s recent domestic form for UP was not up to the mark, wherein he failed to convert starts into big innings. As a result, he could not get a bid from any of the franchise in the auction. 6. Shashank Singh Shashank made his domestic debut for Mumbai way back in 2015. However, after not getting many chances within the team, he decided to ply his trade for Chhattisgarh in 2019. Since then, his performances have left an impact and helped him to be a part of the IPL. The middle-order batter was a part of Rajasthan Royals in the 2019 and 2020 editions. However, he finally got an opportunity to play IPL, while playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He rose to fame by hitting 25* off six balls against Gujarat Titans in 2022. Shashank hit three sixes in a row to Lockie Ferguson, while displaying his ability to hit shots all around the park. However, he could not continue his brilliance in the subsequent matches, and could not find a buyer this year. 7. Sanjay Yadav Sanjay Yadav has been a sensational performer in Tamil Nadu Premier League over the years. He received recognition as a pinch hitter and a skilful spinner due to his antics on the field. In the 2022 TNPL season, Sanjay returned as the top-scorer with 452 runs in nine games at a lavish strike of 186.77. Further, Sanjay bagged six wickets in nine appearances as well, which depicts his all-round abilities. Last year, he was picked by Mumbai Indians, and was expected to be their number seven. However, the talented cricketer could not get any opportunity and was then released. With most of the teams searching for a pace-bowling all-rounder, Sanjay went out of favour among the franchises. Ahead of the auction, the 27-year-old could not weave his magic for Tamil Nadu in the domestic circuit as well. 8. Shreyas Gopal The talented leg-spinner from Karnataka, Shreyas Gopal made his domestic debut in 2014 and has been a key member of the team's spin attack. He has taken over 200 wickets in first-class format while returning with 89 and 95 wickets in the List-A and T20s respectively. Shreyas has represented Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and the Sunrisers Hyderabad. He has 49 wickets in as many appearances and is a useful batter as well. However, he could secure only a solitary wicket in three appearances for SRH in 2022. Moreover, Gopal’s form in the 2022 domestic season didn’t excite the franchises. An average performance in the IPL and Karnataka this year paved way for Gopal to remain unsold. 9. Sandeep Sharma The impressive exponent of the new ball went on to become unsold in the mini-auction. Sandeep Sharma made his IPL debut for the Kings XI Punjab in 2013 and has also played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Sharma has been a key member of the pace attacks of the teams for both teams in the cash-rich league. He has taken over 100 wickets in the tournament and has an economy rate of under 8 runs per over. However, the 34-year-old could only take two wickets in five games of the 2022 edition for Sunrisers. Although he has done well in the domestic circuit, the average last few IPL seasons might be the reason for the franchises to ignore him in this year’s auction. 10. Chris Jordan The right-arm pacer has represented England in 35 ODIs and 84 T20Is and scalped 141 wickets. Interestingly, he was part of the English team in the T20 World Cup 2022. He returned with three wickets against India in the semi-finals and followed it with a couple of wickets against Pakistan in the final. In the showpiece event, Jordan was on spot with his executions in death overs. Moreover, he has also played for various franchise teams in domestic T20 leagues around the world, including the IPL, CPL and PSL. However, he could not attract any buyers in the auction, despite his experience of 295 T20s. He played for CSK in four matches and bagged only two wickets in 2022, which might be the reason for his unsold status. 11. Riley Meredith The fiery pacer is the next big thing for Australia in white-ball cricket. If not for the already terrific pace bowling trio of Australia, he would have cemented his place in the T20 team. The pace and accuracy have been the key factor for his success in the last few years. Meredith has played for the Hobart Hurricanes since the 2018-19 BBL season and has been a key member of the team's pace attack. He returned with 16 wickets each in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons and helped the team qualify for playoffs. Furthermore, the 26-year-old has 12 wickets in 13 IPL appearances. He represented Mumbai Indians in 2022, and bagged eight wickets in as many appearances, but was released. Then, the pacer could not find traction from the franchises.

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IPL 2023: Best Unsold XI from the Auction

Here are the prominent players who could not attract bids in the mini-auction.

4. Baba Indrajith (wk)

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