IPL 2022 Mega Auction: Three players who surprisingly went unsold

The mega auction for the 2022 IPL concluded on Sunday. All the teams got into heated bidding wars with each other for various players and at the end of the event, conducted over a course of two days in Bengaluru, over 204 players were sold in total to the 10 franchises.

Here we will look at some big names that missed out.

1. Suresh Raina

One of the biggest shocks of the mega auction was when former Indian all-rounder Suresh Raina found no bidders in both the rounds of the auction. The left-hander sits on the fourth position of the list of all-time run-getters in the IPL.

He has played 205 matches and scored 5,528 runs at an average of 32.51. Raina is only behind Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma in the run-getters list. However, the 35-year-old had an average season last year, which led to him being dropped from the CSK squad. Given his average season and a heavy base price of INR 2 Crore, none of the franchises opted to show interest in the veteran.

2. Steve Smith

Second on the list of the most shocking unsold players from the mega auction 2022 is former Australian skipper Steve Smith. Smith has scored 152 runs in eight matches at an average of 25.33 and a strike rate of 112.59. He had a below-average season for the Delhi Capitals last year which might have prompted sides to not to go for the right-handed batter.

3. Eoin Morgan

Perhaps the most surprising name that went unsold in the auctions was the KKR skipper who led them to the finals in 2021 before the defeated by the Chennai Super Kings. The current ODI and T20I captain of England Morgan struggled to find runs and could just manage 133 runs in 17 matches at an average of 11.08. His struggles in 2021 probably were the key factors that deterred the sides from buying him in the auctions.