Scroll a bit through your Facebook feed and you are likely to cross paths with one or the other post that refers to the upcoming Indian Premier League auction. Such is the impact that the IPL has created in the everyday life of Indians that even the curtain-raiser – the auction – has garnered huge attention.
Stars go unsold and uncapped players become overnight heroes at the auctions, but amidst all the tense excitement there have been several controversial and interesting events. Here we take a look at a few of them from the annals of IPL history.
When Kolkata Burned in 2011
The 2010 IPL season was huge for Kolkata's golden boy, Sourav Ganguly. He had made 493 runs in 14 matches at an average of 37.92, including four half-centuries. So when he doubled his base price just before the auctions, it seemed like a sensible decision. But little did he know that a betrayal from his own team was around the corner.
Ganguly, as did several other stars that IPL season, went unsold with not a single franchise putting forward a bid for the former Indian skipper. What was surprising was that even Kolkata Knight Riders, a team which equated to Sourav Ganguly himself, did not deem the southpaw worthy enough.
Protests were launched by fans in the streets of Kolkata and it seemed like the IPL had seen the last of Sourav Ganguly. Luckily, Pune Warriors signed him post the auctions and he played for the franchise for two more years before hanging up his boots.
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Dirk Nannes' Biggest Impact on IPL
Remember Dirk Nannes? The Dutch turned Australian fast bowler made a huge impact on the course of the Indian Premier League when he got injured during the 2011 IPL season while representing Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The Bangalore-based franchise decided to call upon Chris Gayle who was unsold in the auctions after failing to impress much for Kolkata Knight Riders. The decision was a historic one, as seven years later, Gayle and RCB have a rare connection bound on a record number of sixes and a highest individual score of 175 (which by the way is a T20 record in itself).
Gayle going unsold in an auction is unfathomable these days, but back in 2011 he wasn't the hero he is today.
RCB's Late Realisation
The prelude to the 2015 IPL auctions saw Royal Challengers Bangalore part ways with Yuvraj Singh who had been out of the Indian side for quite some time then. It seemed like a smart decision particularly because Yuvraj had struggled immensely against spin in the World T20 a year before.
But it seemed like RCB was never intent on completely parting ways with the 2011 World Cup superstar. Instead, the idea was to save Rs 14 crores (his price at the time) and bid back for him at a lower price. What the analysts in the RCB panel did not account for was a vociferous bid for the elegant southpaw from four franchises in the auctions.
As the price rose above 14 crores, there was a surprising bid from one team – Royal Challengers Bangalore. Yes, you read that right. They bid for Yuvraj Singh at 14.5 crores, a half more than what they had sold him for.
However, the attempt to buy him back wasn't fruitful and Delhi Daredevils eventually secured his services for a whopping 16 crores. However, Yuvraj didn't have a great season, much to the relief of RCB fans.
When Pollard Enlightened a Dull Auction
The 2010 IPL auction was a dour affair. Only eleven players were sold with franchises having a limited budget of US $750,000. Kieron Pollard, that West Indian all-rounder, was enrolled at a base price of US $200,000.
As Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians fought for the swashbuckling Pollard, his base price rose to US $750,000 in no time. Now, he couldn't go any further up with franchises having run out of money, but since they had bid for him, he couldn't go unsold either.
A tie-breaker followed where each of these franchises would submit their bid secretly and the highest bidder would get the West Indian. Mumbai Indians turned out to be the winner and their association with Pollard was a memorable one, with three IPL titles to its name in the years Pollard was a part of the team. How much Pollard went for that day, though, remains a mystery to outsiders.
Harpreet-Harmeet Mix-up
Harpreet Singh had done quite a good job at the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 competition prior to the 2017 IPL. The left-handed batsman was the leading run-scorer in the zonal T20 tournament, with 211 runs in 4 games. He had also stamped his mark in the Vijay Hazare 50-over competition.
In short, Harpreet had done a commendable job for Madhya Pradesh, good enough to secure him an IPL deal at the auctions.
He had played the IPL before, having been part of the Kolkata Knight Riders team in 2010 and Pune Warriors in 2012. But 2017 would turn out to be unforgettable for him.
On the very day the IPL auction was scheduled, several websites reported that Harpreet was detained for allegedly driving his car onto the platform of a railway station. Incidentally, it was Harmeet Singh, Harpreet's team-mate in the 2010 Under-19 World Cup, who was involved but the damage had been done.
Franchises did not bid for Harpreet thinking that he was the one who was detained. Luckily for him, RCB took him in later, as an injury replacement for Sarfaraz Khan. He, however, did not feature in a single game the entire season.
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(Rohit Sankar is a freelance cricket writer. He can be reached at @imRohit_SN)
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