4 Faded stars of IPL Auction

The Indian Premier League is undoubtedly one of the most popular and marketable leagues across the world. It has been a stepping stone for cricketers to show their proclivity in a grand manner.

The IPL Auction always surprises the fans with huge amounts of money being spent on various cricketers. It is aptly said that the IPL is half-won at the auction table. All the teams have their task cut out in the auction and they abide by their strategies and allot specific budget for their target players.

The IPL Auction has led to several cases of Rags to Riches story. While some of the cricketers ensured a longer run in the Indian Premier League due to their consistency, others couldn't prove their worth and have found themselves out of the scheme of things.

Here, we take a look at those faded stars of IPL Auction.

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#4 Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara, one of the mainstays of the Indian Test team hasn't been able to live up to the expectations in Indian Premier League. The middle-order batsman has had unsuccessful stints in the IPL with Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

He broke the headlines when he was bought for a whopping price of 3.22 crore INR by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2011 IPL Auction. However, he faltered due to the skyrocketing expectations and later went on to play for Kings XI Punjab in 2014. In his 30 appearances in the IPL, he has managed just 390 runs at an awful strike-rate of 99.74.

Cheteshwar Pujara's over-defensive play is clearly not suited to the T20 format and it has led teams to neglect him during the auctions. He found no takers in the recently-concluded IPL 2019 Auction.

#3 Aniket Choudhary

Aniket Choudhary

Aniket Choudhary, the left-arm pacer from Bikaner was highly regarded as India's long-term solution for a left-arm bowler. He was also India's net bowler during the tour of New Zealand in 2016.

Royal Challengers Bangalore bought him for a price of 2 crores from his base price of 10 lakhs in the 2017 IPL Auction after he impressed everyone with his bowling exploits in the domestic circuit. However, he failed to make a mark and gave away 144 runs from just 5 matches at an economy rate of 8.55.

RCB released him ahead of 2018 IPL Auction and bought him again for a much cheaper amount of 30 lakh INR. Due to the presence of consistent bowlers in RCB's lineup, he was considered as surplus to their needs and did not get a single game to prove his worth. He was let go by RCB in the trade window and found no bidders in the 2019 IPL Auction.

#2 KC Cariappa

KC Cariappa

KC Cariappa is one of the finest spinners in the domestic circuit. Hailing from Bengaluru, he was the talk of the town when he was roped in by Kolkata Knight Riders for 2.4 crores from his base price of 10 lakhs.

He attracted a lot of eyeballs including those of Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir during the practice session of the Champions League. This played a major role in fetching KC Cariappa an IPL contract with Kolkata Knight Riders.

To his dismay, he only got a solitary chance to prove his worth and was released by KKR. He went to play for KXIP after being bought at a price of 80 lakh INR in the 2016 IPL Auction. However, KC Cariappa couldn't justify the faith of the team management as he scalped just 8 wickets at an economy of 9.23 from 9 matches.

He hasn't been able to find a franchise since the 2016 edition of the IPL.

#1 Tymal Mills

Tymal Mills

Tymal Mills is undoubtedly one of the most overrated cricketers to have played in the cash-rich league. He shot to prominence when he was snapped up by Royal Challengers for a massive sum of 12 crores after outbidding several other teams in the auction.

However, his performances were less than satisfactory as he played just 5 games where he took 5 wickets at a very poor economy rate of 8.57. Added to that, his injuries also prevented him from playing at the start of the season.

He couldn't establish himself as one of the top bowlers and hasn't been able to make a comeback since then. Being an injury-prone player, various T20 teams across the globe have refrained themselves from buying Tymal Mills and he has remained unsold since then in the IPL Auctions.

With Tymal Mills already being down with an injury, his chances of making a comeback to the Indian Premier League look very scarce.