Jan. 9: The most stunning aspect of the IPL-4 auctions was that it witnessed the end of a few cricketing careers. The re-auction of the unsold players was the last ray of hope for the likes of Sourav Ganguly and Brian Lara, but they failed to find any takers. For duo who have retired from international cricket, IPL was the only stage to enthrall the spectators, but now it has come to a screeching halt.
“Ganguly, Lara and Gayle have been top class cricketers during different eras. I salute their performances, but there was no suitable place for them in the teams,” pointed out Vijay Mallya, owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore.
This was the general mindset of the franchisees during the auction as they did not go by face value but were more interested in having a well-balanced team.
Sanath Jayasuriya, who had turned out for Mumbai Indians in the previous editions, didn’t evince any interest from any of the franchisees. Jayasuriya was also recently dropped from the Sri Lankan squad for the World Cup.
The two South Africans, Mark Boucher and Herschelle Gibbs also joined the list of no-rans after being ignored by the teams. Boucher, previously with RCB, is in the twilight of his career, while Gibbs’ international career is all but over.
On Sunday, some of the international players, who were expected to make the cut, failed to make it. A little surprising was the non-selection of Aussie pacers Peter Siddle and Stuart Clark as the Australian players were expected to be the most sought-after during the auction. The young New Zealander Tim Southee, who recently picked up a hat-trick during the T20 against Pakistan also found no takers.
Adding to the list was Dwayne Bravo and Simon Katich. During their outing with the Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab respectively, the duo had come up with impressive performances, but they did not fit into the equation of any of the teams this time around.