Ego-bruising Exclusions!

At the annual IPL Player Auction in Bengaluru recently, Ishant — the most capped player in India’s Test contingent — had no takers. While it was a first of sorts for Ishant — who was one of the HIGHEST PAID INDIAN CRICKETERS in the T20 extravaganza ever since its inception in 2008 — Cheteshwar Pujara for the third time in succession remained unsold in the auction. AMOL KARHADKAR explores the reasons.

- Amol Karhadkar

Indian Test cricketersCheteshwar Pujara and IshantSharma were not picked byany franchise at the 2017 IPL auction in Bengaluru.

While 66 cricketers were sold at the annual IPL Player Auction in Bengaluru, Ishant — the most capped player in India’s Test contingent — had no takers even though the eight IPL franchises added 39 Indians to their kitty. While it was a first of sorts for Ishant — who was one of the highest paid Indian cricketers in the T20 extravaganza ever since its inception in 2008 — Pujara for the third time in succession remained unsold in the auction.

THE SEASONED DUO TOPPED the list of top Indian cricketers who were sidelined from the tournament that’s emerged as the epicentre of Indian domestic cricket. The list of prominent Indian omissions includes fast bowlers Pankaj Singh and Parvinder Awana; swing bowler and lower order bat Irfan Pathan; opening batsman Abhinav Mukund, all-rounder Parvez Rasool and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha. While all these players have made an appearance in at least one of the three formats in international cricket, some of those who have excelled in domestic cricket — Priyank Panchal, who scored 1310 runs in Gujarat’s triumphant Ranji Trophy campaign being a case in point — have been overlooked too.