'It was a high-quality player pool' - Saurabh Netravalkar on going unsold in IPL 2025 mega auction

Star left-arm pacer of the United States of America (USA), Saurabh Netravalkar,  recently opened up on going unsold in the IPL 2025 Mega Auction. The 33-year-old also shared his feelings about being shortlisted and his name getting called out during the event. Moreover, he also shared the reasons for the teams not showing interest in him for one of the biggest events in franchise cricket.

The 2025 IPL mega auction surprised cricket fans and experts alike when some of the top players failed to find any bidders and eventually remained unsold. The list of unsold players featured some big names like David Warner and Shardul Thakur who were once one of the most sought-after players in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Hence in the process, another rising player who didn’t get any attention was Saurabh Netravalkar, who garnered immense limelight for his inspiring performances for the USA team in the 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup. Therefore, it was expected to see Netravalkar getting sold. However, it wasn't meant to be and in the same vein, he opened up about the IPL mega auction and remaining unsold in the event.

Saurabh expressed his gratitude for getting shortlisted in first place and then getting his name called out was even better. After failing to make the cut, the pacer pointed out that as many big players also went unsold, the overall pool of players proved too much for the franchises, so it was quite understandable that he went unsold in the IPL mega auction.

"Firstly, grateful for getting shortlisted in the final auction list. Yes, the child in me had hopes for sure! But, it was a high-quality player pool with so many top players also failing to make the cut, so I completely understand," Said Netravalkar to the Times of India (TOI).

Netravalkar showed his mettle during T20 World Cup

Though USA is not one of the biggest teams in international cricket Netravalkar has still performed really well in both the white-ball formats and has emerged as the highest wicket-taker for the team as well. Most notably, during the T20 World Cup 2024, when USA trumped Pakistan, Netravalkar was one of the key performers with the ball. For the unversed, Netravalkar had conceded just 18 runs from his four-over quota. During his spell, he also claimed two wickets as well.

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Besides, when it comes to the overall experience, the 33-year-old has taken 88 wickets in ODI’s and 51 wickets in T20’s. Looking at these stats it is surprising to see that there were no bids for him by any of the franchises.