Many big names including India batsman Yuvraj Singh, Cheteshwar Pujara, Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill remained unsold in the first round of bidding at the 2019
IPL auction today. Like last year, Jaydev Unadkat received the highest bid at Rs 8.40 Crore, followed by West Indian Carlos Brathwaite at Rs 5 crore and Axar Patel (Rs 5 crore).
There were no takers for 37-year-old Yuvraj, who was a sought after player in the
IPL for a long time and during his prime, attracted a Rs 16 crore bid in the 2015 IPL season.
He entered into the auction with a base price of Rs one crore and could still find a buyer. Yuvraj going unsold was not particularly surprising as he endured a lean run in the 2018 edition after KXIP bought him at a base price of Rs two crore before releasing him in November.
However, West Indies players were in demand with
Royal Challengers Bangalore paying Rs 4.2 crore for Hetmyer. Kolkata Knight Riders,
Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals also bid for the stylish West Indian batsman, who had a base price of Rs 50 lakh.
His teammate Brathwaite, the star of 2016 World T20, was sold to KKR for Rs 5 ive crore after a bidding war between the Dinesh Karthik-led side and
Kings XI Punjab.
The all-rounder had entered the auction with a base price of Rs 75
Indian Test player Hanuma Vihari was sold to Delhi Captials for Rs two crore, four times his base price. Ishant Sharma was sold to Delhi Capitals for Rs 1.10 Crore, while Lasith Malinga sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 2 Crore.
Another West Indian to get an attractive deal was wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran. The 23-year-old, who came with a base price of Rs 75 lakh, went for Rs 4.20 crore to KXIP. He is a T20 find and is yet to play Test cricket
The high-profile unsold players were Cheteshwar Pujara, New Zealanders Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Englishmen Chris Woakes, Alex Hales and Chris Jordan.
Aussie stumper Ben McDermott and India's Naman Ojha also failed to find any buyers from among the eight
IPL franchises.
(Inputs from PTI)