The IPL Auction Mystery: Why Did Shaw and Thakur Get Ignored?
Author: Vishnu Reddy
Updated At:
The IPl 2025 is now closer. The mega auction has been wrapped up successfully. Now the teams are ready to compete with full strength. Fans experienced some intense war between the franchises. The event saw some highest bids. Along with that, some big names got unsold too. Prithvi Shaw, Shardul Thakur, Kane Williamson, David Warner, Sarfaraz Khan, Jonny Bairstow, and Mayank Agarwal were some of the notable players who went unsold by the franchises.
Shaw Remains Unsold
After 2022, fans experienced another exciting IPL mega auction. Jeddah hosted the marquee event where the franchises fought hard to make a strong squad. The big stage witnessed some crazy deals for some big names. On the flip side, players like Prithvi Shaw and Shardul Thakur remained unsold in the league.
Both are well-known names in Indian cricket. After winning the under-19 cricket World Cup in 2018, Prithvi Shaw grabbed the limelight for his exceptional leadership. He made his debut for India in the longer format and performed exceptionally well. Even he scored a century on his debut. Shaw, once compared to Tendulkar, now faces comparisons to Kambli, with fitness issues leading to his Mumbai Ranji exclusion.
While talking about Shaw’s position, his former coach Ricky Ponting said, “Sad. You know, Prithvi, I still say now he is as talented a player as I probably ever worked with. He goes unsold in the auction and then doesn't even come back in the accelerator.”
Later he added, “ And there are a lot of teams here that are looking at him. He's not playing. But as I said, the game catches up with you. So, yeah, I guess that. Yeah, that's about all you can say."
Shardul Thakur Failed to Make a Mark
Along with him, Shardul Thakur also remained unsold. He is a big face in the Indian bowling unit. In the previous mega auction, he soared with a value of 10.75 crore. His base price of Rs 2 crore was considered steep. According to a franchise insider, another factor could be the Impact Player rule, which has reduced the role of all-rounders in the game, affecting their value and making it harder for them to fit into team strategies.
While talking about this, Ricky Ponting said, "The game catches up with you, right? So, you know, Shardul, only a couple of years ago, I think we paid about INR 10 crores for him in an auction. And now he's not. Now he's unsold.”
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