IPL 2019: 5 cricketers with too low a base price at the auction

The IPL auctions for 2019 are around the corner and the excitement among the fans is sky-high. The mega event will be held on 18th December at Jaipur.

Talk about the league had started to get heated up a month ago as the first trade window had opened and teams like Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Capitals exchanged and bought quite a lot of players.

The IPL is scheduled to start on 29th March 2019 and will end on 19th May 2019. The tournament is most likely to be held at UAE or South Africa as the general elections will also take place at the same time in India. The World Cup 2019 also starts just 11 days after the end of IPL and thus many of the international teams have asked their star players to excuse themselves from the 12th edition of the league.

That last point makes the IPL auction even more interesting as the newcomers along with the veterans will be bought at a hefty amount by the teams. And it'll be really interesting to have a look at their performances during the tourney.

The players recently set their base price at which the bidding will commence. Whilst some players have set their base price high keeping their recent performances in mind, some others have fixed a lower price than what they deserve.

In this article, we will have a look at 5 players with too low a base price:

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#1. Shimron Hetmyer - 50 lakh

Shimron Hetmyer is one of the most exciting young prospects in the sport at the moment. The Caribbean southpaw's performance has been phenomenal in the past few months; he scored a century and a 94 in the first two games against India in the recently-concluded ODI series.

His blistering knocks would have surely impressed the owners of the IPL franchises and they will try everything possible to get him in their squad. Hetmyer has fixed his base price as INR 50 lakh, but it is likely that the player will get much more than his base price.

#2. Mohit Sharma - 50 Lakh

Mohit Sharma

Mohit Sharma's performance in the 2012-13 season induced a rapid rise in his career trajectory as it earned him an IPL contract with CSK. His spectacular performance of 20 wickets in 15 matches in his debut season gave him a prominent place the limelight.

Mohit was also picked in the Indian ODI squad after his stellar performance. He continued his form in the next season as well as he took 23 wickets in 16 matches.

He then signed an IPL contract with the KXIP in 2016 and continued to play for them for the next three seasons.

However, Mohit's career has seen a downswing in the past 2-3 years. He could pick only 7 wickets in 9 matches he played last year, and the franchise decided to release him.

Therefore, Mohit will be one of the candidates at the auction this time with a base price of 50 lakh. The lad is expected to earn more than his base price as his simple style of play is quite effective.

#3. Sarfaraz Khan - 20 Lakh

Sarfaraz Khan was picked by the IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore at the age of 18 years, making him the youngest player to be picked by an IPL team. He played some promising knocks in seasons 8 and 9 and looked to be a wonderful prospect for RCB in the coming years. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury during IPL 2017 and was forced to miss the season.

But the biggest turning point of Sarfaraz's career was him being retained by RCB in 2018. The Royal Challengers Bangalore, despite having players like KL Rahul, Chris Gayle and Yuzvendra Chahal, decided to retain Sarfaraz in the last season.

This turned out to be a big misfire for the team as the young lad's performance wasn't up to the mark, and he could score only 51 runs in the 7 matches he played.

After this disappointing performance, Sarfaraz was released by RCB. The 21-year old has set his base price at INR 20 lakh, and is likely to get picked in the IPL Auction 2019 - probably for a much higher price than that.

#4. Manoj Tiwary - 50 Lakh

Manoj Tiwary has been in the form of his life in the domestic circuit this season. The Bengal-cricketer was the leading run scorer for his state in Vijay Hazare Trophy in the 2018-19 season, with figures of 366 runs in 9 matches. He also recently scored a double-century in the Ranji Trophy.

Though he was released by his former franchise Kings XI Punjab last month, Tiwary will be a hot favorite among the teams at the upcoming auction. He has fixed his base price a bit lower than what it should be, and he is likely to be picked at a higher amount because of his recent performances.

#5. Manan Vohra - 20 Lakh

Manan Vohra is a household name for fans of the IPL. He is the grandson of former hockey player Y.P. Singh and has been quite impressive in the league over the years.

Vohra's ability to strike the ball big has been appreciated all over the world. During his younger days, he had even made the Punjab U19 team the champions of the Vinoo Mankad Trophy.

The stylish top-order batsman's innings of 67 runs and pivotal partnership with Wriddhiman Saha in the final of IPL 7, as well as the 95-run knock against SRH in IPL 2017, have been among the highlights of his IPL career.

Vohra was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 11 for a price of 1.1 crore INR. Although he didn't have a great season last time, his ability to keep pilling runs is likely to earn him much more than his base price in the 2019 auction.