Five Big Names who went UNSOLD in Indian T20 League auction history

The Indian T20 League is the richest cricket league in the world. Every player dreams to get a chance to play in this grandest cricket league of all time. Several big names are bought by the franchises every year at the auction at exorbitant prices. While some players take home a huge amount of money, some face rejection and are not bought by any franchise at all. There have been many instances when big names have gone unsold in the Indian T20 League Auction. On that note, let’s take a look at five such players:

Steve Smith

Steve Smith (Image source: Twitter)

Steve Smith is part of the reputed ‘fab 4’ club of international cricket which includes Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Joe Root. However, the star cricketer hasn’t been able to repeat his heroics from Tests and ODIs in T20 cricket. He had below-par seasons in 2020 and 2021 which led to him being unsold for the season in 2022.

Eoin Morgan

Eoin Morgan (Image source; Twitter)

Eoin Morgan was one of the most explosive T20I batters from England. However, he couldn’t perform in the same manner batting in the Indian T20 League. In eight seasons he played in the league, Morgan crossed the 300-run mark just twice. He had a miserable season in 2021 where he averaged just 11 with the bat. As a result, he went unsold for the 2022 edition of the league.

Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina (Image source; Twitter)

Raina is one of the most consistent performers of the Indian T20 League. The star batter had scored over 300 runs in every season he played till 2019. Raina had to opt out of the 2020 edition due to family issues. He returned in the 2021 season but failed to fire with the bat and could only manage to score 160 runs at an average of 17.77. In a shocking move, Raina was later ignored by the Chennai Franchise in the 2022 auction and has since retired from the league.

Lasith Malinga

Lasith Malinga (Image source; Twitter)

The yorker king Lasith Malinga is arguably the greatest fast bowler in the history of the Indian T20 League. He’s the second-highest wicket-taker of the tournament having 170 scalps to his name. However, the fast bowler went unsold for the 2018 edition of the league. Mumbai had released Malinga ahead of the 2018 mega auctions. But none of the teams bid for the legend. He went unsold that season and served as a bowling mentor to Mumbai.

Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle (Image source: Twitter)

The Universe Boss Chris Gayle went unsold in the Indian T20 League auction in 2011 as he didn’t have good forgettable first three seasons. As none of the franchises wanted to gamble on Gayle. Cricketing expert Navjot Singh Sidhu famously referred to this move as “stupid auctions”.

Gayle completely transformed the Bangalore franchise unit post joining them halfway in 2011. He won two consecutive orange caps for his exploits in 2011 and 2012.