IPL Auction 2018: Unsold XI

Middle-order

Possibly the biggest surprise of the auction, Shaun Marsh, who has given blood, sweat and tears to Kings XI Punjab ever since the inception of the IPL 10 years ago, did not find a single taker. Marsh averages just under 40 in the IPL and has a strike rate of 132 to boot, having played 71 matches so far, impressive numbers for an Australian in the subcontinent.

Marsh even had a successful Ashes campaign with Australia, amassing two centuries and two half-centuries across five matches, but a lack of limited-overs cricket may have counted against him.

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There was no beginner's luck on offer for Joe Root, the England captain, who decided to stick his name in the auction for the first time. A base price of INR 1.5 crore though meant that not a single paddle was raised when his name was called.

Root is one of the most consistently infuriating batsmen in world cricket, simply due to his inability to convert starts into big scores. Add to that his availability (or lack thereof) throughout the tournament and it wasn't too big a surprise that the English skipper went unsold.

While his numbers in the shortest format of the game are as good as anyone's in the business - he has an average of 32 and strike rate of 126 - he isn't in the same mould as an AB de Villiers or even Jason Roy for that matter, who can win games in the matter of a few overs. However, considering many teams were in the market for a leader, Root should have been one of the first names on their minds. A tough one to fathom.

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The English players found no love in the auction, and Eoin Morgan too will be forced to sit at home and twiddle his thumbs in front of the television wondering what could have been. Morgan, unlike Root, has experienced the glitz and glamour of the marquee Indian T20 league, having plied his trade for KKR, RCB, SRH and KXIP in seasons past.

Morgan is your quintessential T20 player, equipped with a whole host of unorthodox strokes. From the lap to the reverse sweep, Morgan has got it all, but somehow his game never took off in the IPL, striking at a meagre 121 from 50 odd games, and at INR 2 crore, he was never going to be a realistic option for most teams.