IPL 2020 auction: State players fail to hit it big

Contrary to expectation, Karnataka players didn’t raise the roof in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League auction here in Kolkata on Thursday with a number of them going unsold.

The most notable non-buy of the lot was Rohan Kadam, who was expected to go at least at a base price of Rs 20 lakh if not more. KC Cariappa, Praveen Dubey, Luvnith Sisodia and R Samarth were the others who didn’t get a penny out of this auction.

That said, two players currently plying their wares for the State team did manage to pouch some dough. Pavan Deshpande returned to Royal Challengers Bangalore after being released by the side in 2018, while Aniruddha Joshi was picked up by Rajasthan Royals. Both the hard-hitting batsmen were bought for Rs 20 lakhs on.

“I am excited to be back in the side,” a jubilant Deshpande told DH. “When I was left out after 2018, I didn’t feel bad at all. In fact, I thought I should put in more effort. It’s great to be back to the team.”

Joshi’s views weren’t dissimilar either, having been in the RCB squad the same season as Deshpande. “I am very excited with this opportunity. I learnt so much from RCB that I was able to become a better player. The plan is to use all that knowledge in Rajasthan now. It’s going to be great having some Karnataka players in the side,” he said.

While Shreyas Gopal is one of them, the plurality in his statement is because Karnataka’s Robin Uthappa was also bought by the side for Rs 3 crore. Uthappa, who had been with Kolkata Knight Riders for five years, was eager to move on.

“My journey with KKR has come to an end but I am not disappointed at all,” he said. "I had a great run there and it was time to move on anyway. I am looking forward to my stint with the Rajasthan Royals. They have a great bunch of people to work with. I am looking forward to my role there. These are exciting times.”

Other former Karnataka players in the auction, R Vinay Kumar and Stuart Binny, went unsold. Despite there being an interest in Vinay, so much so that they called him back for the second accelerated process, he didn’t find any takers.