The star Indian players have been the biggest attraction in the Indian Premier League. In the first season, quite a few franchises had their home players as the team icons. For example, Sachin Tendulkar was the icon of the Mumbai Indians, Sourav Ganguly of the Kolkata Knight Riders, VVS Laxman of the Deccan Chargers, and so on.
BCCI’s contract does not allow the star Indian players to participate in foreign leagues if they wish to play in the IPL. The IPL Auction is always a big day for any Indian cricketer. However, not every player gets a contract in the auction. In this listicle today, we will talk about five star Indian players who once went unsold in IPL Auctions.
1. One of the biggest star Indian players – Sourav Ganguly
One of the biggest stars in Indian cricket history Sourav Ganguly was the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the first season. He did a good job for the team, but KKR could not make it to the semifinals in the first three editions.
As a result, the Knight Riders made a big decision to release Ganguly. Even more surprisingly, Ganguly went unsold in IPL Auction 2011, but he later played for the Pune Warriors India team as injured Ashish Nehra replacement.
2. One of the biggest star Indian players – VVS Laxman
VVS Laxman will always be remembered for his fantastic performances against Australia. The right-handed batter scored heaps of runs against one of the world’s greatest bowling attacks.
However, Laxman did not achieve much success in the IPL. He played for the Deccan Chargers and the Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the first four seasons. After KTK got disbanded, Laxman did not get a contract at IPL Auction 2012.
3. RP Singh
RP Singh played a pivotal role in India’s T20 World Cup win in the year 2007. The left-arm fast bowler also starred for the Deccan Chargers team in the IPL, winning the Purple Cap award once.
Still, no team showed interest in his services at the 2014 IPL Auction. Singh went unsold and did not play IPL 2014 and 2015. In 2016, he turned up for the Rising Pune Supergiant team.
4. Nitish Rana
Nitish Rana is one of the biggest names in the IPL right now. The left-handed batsman has made a name for himself with his magnificent performances for the Mumbai Indians and the Kolkata Knight Riders.
However, back in 2014, Rana was not so well-known. The all-rounder had registered himself for the mega-auction in 2014, where no franchise showed interest in signing him at his base price of 10 lakh.
5. Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya is unsold #IPLAuction
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 13, 2014
It might surprise a few fans that one of the top Indian all-rounders Hardik Pandya went unsold in IPL 2014 Auction. The all-rounder’s current salary in the IPL is 11 crore. Hardik is a four-time IPL champion now, and he has formed an excellent combination with his brother Krunal Pandya and West Indies’ Kieron Pollard in the MI middle order.
In 2015, the Mumbai Indians bought him for 10 lakh and it proved to be a masterstroke. It will be exciting to see if the Mumbai Indians retain him ahead of the IPL 2022 Mega Auction.
