The Indian Premier League auction is only a few days away and it goes without saying that the franchises and teams have started planning for the mega event. The auction is all set to take place on 19 December in Kolkata. The list of players retained and released was announced a few days back and it would be fair to say that there were quite a few surprising calls taken by the teams. Star players like Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn of Kolkata Knight Riders; Sam Curran, David Miller of the Kings XI Punjab and Chris Morris of Delhi Capitals were released by their respective franchises.
The trade window prior to the auction also saw some massive changes. Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin are set to don the Delhi Capital colours in the forthcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Another massive deal saw Trent Boult move from the Delhi capitals from Delhi Capitals to the Mumbai Indians. Similarly, Mumbai Indians find Mayank Markande was traded twice in a single trade window as he first went from Mumbai to Delhi and later shifted base from Delhi to Rajasthan.
971 players, including 258 overseas stars are all set to go under the hammer this year.
Ahead of the much-awaited auction, let us have a look at these 2 players with the highest base price (INR 2 Crore) who might go unsold in the forthcoming auctions.
Angelo Mathews
Despite being one of the best all-round options in the Asian subcontinent, Angelo Mathews has failed to impress in the Indian Premier League season after season. There is no doubt that he is a talented cricketer but for some incomprehensible reason, he fails to perform at the IPL stage.
After a good start in the International Cricket, his form for Sri Lanka has also been inconsistent. Mathews has been part of franchises like the Kolkata Knight Riders, Pune Warriors India and Delhi Daredevils which has now been renamed Delhi Capitals.
In as many as 49 IPL matches, Mathews has scored 724 runs at an average of 23.35. In addition, he has 27 wickets at an average of 39.96.
Another thing which might go against Mathews is that he is no longer a regular bowler in the cricketing circuit which leaves him as a pure batsman and given his stats, teams may not be willing to spend that extra amount for Mathews the batsman.
Shaun Marsh
In the first edition of the Indian Premier League, Shaun Marsh announced himself by playing some brilliant innings for the Kings XI Punjab. Marsh, who was a relatively unknown player in the inaugural edition, made quite a name for himself and in fact, ended up as the season’s highest run-getter.
As a result of a great IPL season, he was picked for his national team. However, in his international career, he never really achieved as much as experts had gauged by his IPL form in the inaugural season.
Although he played his part in subsequent editions of the Indian Premier League and has a career IPL average of 39.95, he could never quite be as consistent as he was in the first edition of the IPL.