The Indian Premier League (IPL) auction for the upcoming season took place last week in Kochi and it saw franchises splurge a lot on the all-rounders. 24-year-old Sam Curran became the most expensive player in the history of the tournament after being roped in by Punjab Kings for a whopping amount of ₹18.5 crores. He was followed by Australian all-rounder Cameron Green, who was acquired by Mumbai Indians for ₹17.5 crores.
The other names, who fetched big money during the auction, were Ben Stokes (16.25 crore), Nicholas Pooran (16 crore), and Harry Brook (13.25 crore).
However, there were quite a few big guns who went unsold and Punjab pacer Sandeep Sharma was one name among the unfortunates. Sandeep, who has earlier represented Kings XI Punjab now Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, saw no buyers despite being listed at ₹50 lakh as the base price.
IPL Auction 2023: Full list of sold and unsold players
Sharing his views on the same, Sandeep failed to comprehend how he went unsold during the auction. In an interaction with cricket.com, he also highlighted his recent performances in the domestic circuit.
“I’m shocked and disappointed. I don’t know why I went unsold. I’ve done well whichever team I had played for and genuinely thought some team would bid for me. To be honest, I was not expecting this. Don’t even know where it has gone wrong. In domestic cricket, I have been performing well. In the Ranji Trophy, last round, I took seven wickets. I did so well in Syed Mushtaq Ali,” said the pacer.
{{/usCountry}}“I’m shocked and disappointed. I don’t know why I went unsold. I’ve done well whichever team I had played for and genuinely thought some team would bid for me. To be honest, I was not expecting this. Don’t even know where it has gone wrong. In domestic cricket, I have been performing well. In the Ranji Trophy, last round, I took seven wickets. I did so well in Syed Mushtaq Ali,” said the pacer.
{{/usCountry}}Sandeep's record at IPL has been nothing short of impressive. In the 104 IPL appearances he has made so far, Sandeep has scalped a total of 114 wickets at a decent economy of 7.77.
If we look at Sandeep's past records, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the only bowler with more powerplay wickets than the former. He was the only bowler between 2014 and 2020 to scalp over 12 wickets in each editions.
He also holds the record of dismissing talismanic batter Virat Kohli for the most number of times in the IPL. Sandeep has folded Kohli's innings on seven occasions.