A total of 204 players were sold out of the 600 shortlisted at the mega auction for the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which took place over the weekend in Bengaluru. All 10 teams formulated their squads which will remain in place for the next three years. Ishan Kishan emerged as the costliest player as Mumbai Indians acquired him for Rs 15.25 crore. However, there were certain big names who went unsold, surprising the cricket fans. The list included the likes of Suresh Raina, Australian cricketers Kane Richardson and Adam Zampa.
While Raina has been an integral part of the CSK squad, Kane and Zampa were signed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) last season. Unfortunately, they didn’t play many games and were among the ones who pulled out of the tournament due to the second wave of COVID-19 in India. On him and Zampa going unsold in the mega auction, Kane said that the duo leaving the IPL early last year could be the reason for them not getting any bid in IPL mega auction 2022.
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Kane was surprised more to see Zampa not attracting any bids despite his great run in the T20 World Cup, last year. The Aussie recalled that he had a conversation with Zampa before leaving the IPL mid-way, “I said to him, look, this may come back and bite us, and at that time it wasn’t a priority for us to be there. We wanted to get back to Australia,” Kane told ESPNCricinfo,
The former RCB player believes that some buyers would have been pretty wary of picking them thinking that they wouldn’t come again. “I definitely think that’s a factor,” he affirmed. Kane also feels that him not being available in IPL 2020, after getting picked due to the birth of his child had damaged his reputation. However, the Aussie player was quick to make it clear that he is only guessing the probable reasons and none of the franchises have directly told him about this.
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