Mushy unsold at IPL auction

Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim remained unsold while Mahmudullah Riyad was not put under the hammer at the Indian Premier League 2019 auction which was held in Jaipur yesterday.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had put forward eight names, among whom Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah were the only two to survive the shortlist under the wicketkeeper-batsman and all-rounder categories respectively for the 12th edition of the money-spinning T20 league scheduled to start on March 29 next year.

Mushfiqur and Riyad -- two of Bangladesh's Big Five -- had a base price of 50 lakh rupees each. However, none of the franchises put forth bids for the 31-year old Mushfiqur while Mahmudullah was not even called.

The mystery package of Tamil Nadu spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who had a base price of 20 lakh rupees, and last year's most expensive Indian cricketer Jaydev Unadkat accumulated a whopping 8.4 crore price-tag to become the two most expensive buys of the auction. Kings XI Punjab secured the services of Varun while Unadkat was snapped up by Rajasthan Royals.

Such a high price-tag for Varun may have raised some eyebrows as the 27-year old all-rounder has no prior experience of playing in the IPL.

However, Varun's price could be justified if his performance for the Madurai Panthers in the 2018 Tamil Nadu Premier League season is taken into account.

Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan was earlier retained by the Hyderabad Sunrisers while Mustafizur Rahman was not registered by the BCB this time around after being released by the Mumbai Indians.