I don’t like the word 'sold' in IPL auction: Robin Uthappa

Robin Uthappa recently expressed his opinion on the terminolgies used for players during the auction process of the Indian Premier League. He shared that he was not quite of the favour of using the word "sold" during the same event, and advocated for a better term to be used more frequently going forward.

Notably, Uthappa's views were shared on air during the ongoing IPL 2025 game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants in Match 7 of the ongoing season. He was discussing the dynamics of the IPL auctions as well as why he felt the process was a bit harsh to cricketers alongside former Indian cricketer, Harbhajan Singh.

“It is unfair most of the time. I don’t like the word "sold". I hope there will be something respectable in the future,” stated Uthappa while commentating on JioHotstar. 

Notably, Uthappa's statement was a response to Harbhajan's comments on how he felt the IPL was "unfair" to "good players".

“IPL is very unfair at times as good players don’t get franchises. A player like Shardul Thakur went unsold in the auction,” Harbhajan observed.

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Notably, Thakur came in as an injury replacement for Mohsin Khan. He was incorporated in LSG's XI for their first two games. As far as the current game is concerned, he starred with the ball with a four-wicket haul (4/34) in his four-over quota.

The point Harbhajan made cannot be overlooked. During the mega auction for IPL 2025 which took place in Jeddah last year, there were an expansive list of players who were not bidded for. Among those, there were a lot of prominent names with David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Mustafizur Rahman, and Keshav Maharaj, to name a few.