IPL 2023 Auction: From Kane Williamson to Joe Root, star players who could go unsold

Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Kieron Pollard — these are some of the biggest stars in international cricket who have entertained cricket fans in the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the years. But, it’s not always that players like them or those players with great reputation get their chances on a stage like the IPL, where there is that risk of going unsold and being at the receiving end of things.

Take IPL 2022 auction for example. Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan, former England skipper Eoin Morgan, even a big name like Australia’s Steve Smith, went unsold at the IPL 2022 mega auction, which means, things don’t always go the way you want it to go.

The IPL 2023 player auction in Kochi is just three days away, and now seems to be a good time to see which five players could go unsold at the auction:

Kane Williamson

New Zealand’s Kane Williamson had taken over the captaincy duties of Sunriisers Hyderabad (SRH) midway through IPL 2021, from Australia’s David Warner. Change of captaincy did not change their fortunes as SRH finished bottom of the league in 2021.

In 2022, SRH once again missed out on a playoffs spot, finishing eighth out of 10 teams with just 12 points.

Williamson even struggled with the bat earlier this year for SRH, scoring just 216 runs from 13 matches, at a strike rate of just 93.51 and an average of less than 20.

Williamson’s strike-rate has not been up to the mark in recent matches, and that might lead to franchises overlooking the 32-year-old.

Shakib Al Hasan

Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan has loads of experience of playing in the IPL previously, and has even won two titles with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

However, at the 2022 T20 World Cup, all Shakib could manage were 44 runs in five innings, and six wickets.

Shakib went unsold at the IPL 2022 mega auction as well, and he played just eight games in the 2021 season, picking up four wickets and scoring 47 runs.

Over the last 12 months, Shakib has played 15 T20Is for Bangladesh where he has scored 349 runs, and taken 11 wickets, but it remains to be seen whether franchises bid for him in the auction despite his reputation and experience.

Joe Root

Earlier this year, Joe Root had stepped down as England Test captain, and handed over the duties to Ben Stokes. Recently, Root did express his interest in taking part in the IPL auction to explore more opportunities in limited-overs cricket, and he’s one of the 27 English players to register for the auction.

Interestingly, Root has not played a single IPL game in his career, and his name had come up during the 2018 auction, where he eventually went unsold.

Root, however, last played a T20I for England in 2019 against Pakistan, but has a good record in T20 cricket, scoring 2,083 runs in 88 matches.

However, franchises might opt to proceed with caution when Root goes under the hammer, given he last played a T20I three years back.

Nathan Coulter-Nile

Australia’s Nathan Coulter-Nile featured in the IPL 2022 auction, where he was picked up by Rajasthan Royals for his base price of Rs 2 crore, after going unsold in the first round.

However, he did not get much opportunities to make an impact as he played just one game for RR, before being ruled out of the tournament due to an injury. As a result, RR released the Aussie pacer, and now Coulter-Nile finds himself going under the hammer in Kochi.

Coulter-Nile has a pretty decent all-round record in IPL, scalping 48 wickets in 39 matches.

However, Coulter-Nile is already 35, and being prone to injuries is not a good thing for any athlete, and that might hinder his chances of getting a new team in the IPL.

Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane was picked up for his base price of Rs 1 crore by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the IPL 2022 mega auction, but got only limited chances, featuring in just seven games. He scored just 44 runs in total with a strike-rate of 103.91, which goes to show that Rahane has not been an aggressive player in this format of the game.

Having said that, Rahane last played a T20I for India in 2016, and not being a permanent figure in India’s T20I side for more than five years does not help Rahane’s case.

Yes, Rahane has played 158 matches in his IPL career where he has scored 4,074 runs, but at 34 years old and being away from T20Is for India for a while, it remains to be seen if franchises would remain interested in him.

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