Ace allrounder Shakib Al Hasan and batter Liton Das
went unsold in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction today, held at Kochi.
It was the second consecutive time, Shakib, once an integral part of Kolkata
Knight Riders (KKR) failed to draw any attention. Expectation was high on
Liton Das after hitting four half-centuries in 19 matches at a staggering
strike rate of 140 but no IPL franchisees showed interest to rope him in.
They will however get a second chance to put their name in auction if any
slot for foreign players remain empty. A total of 87 players including 30
overseas players will get team in this auction.
Amongst the 405 players, who put their name in IPL auction, this year,
Bangladesh had four players. Apart from Liton, Taskin Ahmed and Afif Hossain
were also in the auction with base price of INR 50 lakh. Shakib had the base
price of INR 1.50 crore. Last year, Shakib had the base price of INR 2 crore.
However even reducing the base price, didn’t work for him.
Pacer Mustafizur Rahman remains the only Bangladeshi player to play the IPL
this year too after his franchise Delhi Capitals retained his service.
