The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises broke the bank once again for some of the greatest names in international cricket at last week's IPL 2022 auction, just like in past seasons. While some players were bought for astounding amounts, several players failed to find buyers.
Despite multiple rounds of bidding, Eoin Morgan, the England white-ball captain who led the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the final of the IPL 2021, went unsold.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt said he was surprised to see the likes of Morgan failing to get any buyer.
Butt compared Morgan to West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran, who was sold for Rs 10.75 crore to the Sunrisers Hyderabad, despite failing to impress last season, and said that luck was not on Morgan's side.
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"There are a lot of titleholders that are missing from the IPL. Dawid Malan, who was the no.1 T20I batter in the world for a long time, isn't there in any team. Aaron Finch and Eoin Morgan aren't there either. Last year, Morgan was the captain of KKR. He wasn't as lucky as Pooran as both had similar performances last year. But Pooran bagged more than 10 crore and he went unsold," Butt said on his YouTube channel.
"Another player was Tabraiz Shamsi. He has been bowling very well in international cricket for quite some time now and he didn't get picked either. Martin Guptill did not get picked by any team as well. Some players will feel hard-done-by but this is the nature of the auction and these sorts of things are bound to happen," he added.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai Indians paid Rs 15.25 crore for Ishan Kishan, making him the most expensive player in the IPL 2022 auction. Liam Livingstone of England, on the other side, was the most expensive overseas acquisition, costing Punjab Kings Rs 11.50 crores.
