IPL Auction 2020: Unsold XI from this year's auction

It was yet another exhilarating Indian Premier League auction that took place in Kolkata. Considering the fact that next year's auction is going to be a mega-auction and the players that are going to go under hammer are just for a year, the teams went aggressively for big stars. The likes of Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Morris and Nathan Coulter-Nile were amongst the biggest buys at the auction. Apart from this established names, some lesser-known and inexperienced players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kartik Tyagi, Ravi Bishnoi, Priyam Garg grabbed eyeballs and made more than ₹1 crore at the auction.

While the teams did not shy away from putting big bucks on these young players, there were some big names that failed to attract any bidders. All these players are proven customers either in international cricket or in the IPL. But unfortunately, all these players failed to make the cut. Here is the Unsold XI from this year's auction.

Openers

Martin Guptill, Evin Lewis

Martin Guptill

Despite being one of the most successful opening batsmen in the history of T20 cricket, Martin Guptill has failed to perform in the IPL. Guptill has played just 13 IPL games with a mediocre average of 22.50. Guptill was part of Sunrisers Hyderabad's squad last year where he played 3 games scoring 81 runs for his side. Unfortunately, it wasn't good enough for him to be retained.

Evin Lewis

Evin Lewis has played some stunning innings for West Indies in T20 cricket. Owing to his batting prowess Lewis was bought by Mumbai Indians in 2018. Despite having an average debut season, the left-handed batsman was retained for 2019. However, things didn't improve for Lewis as he ended up scoring just 48 runs in 3 games in the entire season. Lewis did not attract any buyers this time around.

Middle-order and Wicket-keeper

Shai Hope (wk), Hanuma Vihari, Yusuf Pathan

Shai Hope

Shai Hope might not be a regular part of the star-studded West Indies T20 side but he has impressed one and all in ODI cricket with his temperament and consistency. Hope's record in India in particular would have given him a lot of hope of getting picked by any franchise. But unfortunately, it was not to be as he went unsold.

Hanuma Vihari

Hanuma Vihari is certainly not the attractive stroke-player who wins matches with his big-hitting. However, he has played some sensible knocks for India A in limited-overs cricket. Being a domestic Indian player Vihari would have fancied his chances but he did not get buyers.

Yusuf Pathan

The auction for IPL 2020 seems to have put an end to a glorious career of one IPL's biggest star, Yusuf Pathan. Yusuf has played some sensational innings in the IPL and has been one of the biggest match-winners in the history of the tournament. However, with age Yusuf's performance has diminished rapidly. In the last few years with Sunrisers Hyderabad, Yusuf even struggled to maintain his place in the playing XI. No teams seemed interested in Yusuf's services for the upcoming season.

All-rounders

Ben Cutting, Colin de Grandhomme, Carlos Brathwaite

Ben Cutting

Ben Cutting has developed himself as a T20 specialist and plays in various T20 leagues around the world. Cutting has had his share of IPL glory as well when he starred in the finals of the IPL 2016 playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Cutting then played a couple of seasons for Mumbai Indians but was never really a regular fixture in the playing XI.

Colin de Grandhomme

Colin de Grandhomme is currently one of the best all-rounders in international cricket across formats. His record for New Zealand is quite impressive and he is an asset to the side especially in T20 cricket. However, he has failed to deliver in the IPL. The Kiwi all-rounder has been part of Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore squad in his 3-year IPL career. He has played 25 games where he scored just 303 runs with the bat and picked up 6 wickets with the ball. Owing to his poor IPL record he remained unsold.

Carlos Brathwaite

Just like his international career, Carlos Brathwaite's IPL career has been quite unfulfilling. Brathwaite has played 16 IPL games in 4 years for three different franchises. In these 16 games, Brathwaite scored a paltry 181 runs at a poor average of 13.92. He hasn't been at his best with the ball either picking up 13 wickets.

Bowlers

Tim Southee, Adam Zampa, Mustafizur Rahman

Tim Southee

Tim Southee received quite a bit of a beating from Andre Russell last season. Southee is one of the most experienced pacers going around and thus he is expected to hold on to his nerves in crucial moments. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to do so in the past couple of years and thus remained unsold at the auction.

Adam Zampa

Adam Zampa remaining unsold at the auction yet again is quite baffling. The Australian spinner has phenomenal numbers in the IPL. Zampa has 19 wickets to his name in just 11 games at an average of 14.63. His economy of 7.55 runs per over is also quite acceptable in the T20 format. Unfortunately, he does not fit in the scheme of things of any team.

Mustafizur Rahman

Mustafizur Rahman made a stunning debut in the IPL in 2016 when he was instrumental in Sunrisers Hyderabad's maiden title victory. His variations with the ball were a revelation as batsmen struggled against him. The Bangladeshi quick was bought by Mumbai Indians in 2018 where big things were expected from him. However, he picked just 7 wickets in as many games. Mustafizur missed the next season as his board did not grant him the NOC. His recent performance hasn't been upto the mark which is the likely reason for him being unsold.