Josh Inglis, Phil Salt and other big snubs

Records were expected to be broken in the player auction for the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) that took place in Dubai on Tuesday, and that indeed turned out to be the case.

Australia pacers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins headlined this year’s auction by fetching record bids from Kolkata Knight Riders (Rs 24.75 crore) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (Rs 20.50 crore respectively). Other World Cup heroes such as Daryl Mitchell too were rewarded, with the New Zealand all-rounder landing a Rs 14 crore-deal with the Chennai Super Kings.

Read: Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and other top buys in IPL 2024 Auction

A number of uncapped players too suddenly became a hot topic of discussion for experts on TV channels and cricket fans across the nation after becoming crorepatis overnight, with Uttar Pradesh’s Sameer Rizvi and Jharkhand’s Kumar Kushagra landing deals worth Rs 8.4 crore and Rs 7.2 crore respectively.

Read | Complete list of players sold and unsold at IPL 2024 Auction

The IPL 2024 Auction, however, also had its fair share of players who were expected to fetch big deals, only to be overlooked by the franchises in the end. Some even suffered the ignominy of going unsold not once, but twice.

Looking back at Tuesday’s events at the Coca-Cola Stadium, we bring to you five of the most shocking snubs:

Steve Smith (Rs 2 crore)

One of the top batters of his generation who will no doubt go down as one of Australia’s all-time batting greats, Smith — who led teams such as Rising Pune Supergiant and Rajasthan Royals in the past — had the misfortune of going unsold not once but twice.

Smith isn’t really a consistently explosive T20 batter that someone like a Glenn Maxwell is but remains a reliable option with the bat, as evidenced by the 346 runs in five appearances that he scored in the 2022-23 Big Bash League at a stunning average of 86.50 and a strike rate of 174.75. What’s more, it’s his inputs as a leader that also proves valuable.

Punjab Kings might have added his name for the accelerated round, but the bidding war with Delhi Capitals for South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw, whom they eventually secured for Rs 8 crore, meant they had to leave Smith out.

Josh Inglis (Rs 2 crore)

Another of Australia’s World Cup heroes who was expected to fetch big bucks in the IPL Auction, Inglis steep base price of Rs 2 crore might have led to the franchises overlooking him initially when his name was called out during the main round, and later during the accelerated round as well.

Inglis replaced Alex Carey after the Aussies’ poor start to the World Cup and made an instant impact with a match-winning 58. More recently, he smashed a whirlwind 110 in a T20I against India in Visakhapatnam off just 50 deliveries, like Hendricks’ contribution, was considered a very timely knock.

Phil Salt (Rs 1.5 crore)

Talk about timely knocks and how can one leave out Phil Salt’s brilliant 109 not out off just 56 balls against West Indies in Grenada that allowed England to chase down a massive 223-run target and remain alive in the five-match series.

It’s not just that knock that makes Salt, who also doubles as a keeper, one of the most exciting prospects in the T20 format the world over — the Welshman’s T20I strike rate reads a whopping 157.51 in 19 appearances. And it wasn’t as if Salt had too bad a run with the Delhi Capitals in his maiden IPL season this year, collecting 218 runs at a strike rate of 163.91 including a 45-ball 87 that helped DC chase down a target of 282 set by Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Josh Hazlewood (Rs 2 crore)

Australian pacers were expected to be the biggest draws in this year’s auction after the kind of performances they dished out in the recent World Cup in India, and Josh Hazlewood was expected to be right up there alongside pace colleagues Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.

On the eve of the auction, however, Hazlewood had indicated that he would not be available for the months of March and April due to the birth of his child, and would be available from May. Missing out on a month’s worth of action however, isn’t reason alone for franchises to ignore a player, as was the case with Mumbai Indians buying Jofra Archer despite the latter being unavailable for the entire 2022 season.

Reeza Hendricks (Rs 50 lakh)

Reeza Hendricks smashed a whirlwind 49 off just 27 deliveries in the second T20I against India in Gqeberha that helped South Africa chase down a revised target of 152 in 15 overs. Such was the impact of his knock that the Proteas ended up chasing the steep-looking target down with more than an over to spare.

For many, it was a timely knock that would have caught the attention of many a franchise head. Hendricks’ name, however, was not mentioned in the accelerated round. With a base price of just Rs 50 lakh, the 34-year-old could have been a valuable buy for the next season.