Dubai [UAE], October 2 : The drama around India's legendary spinner Ravichandran Ashwin going unsold in the ILT20 Season Four auction caught further attention after his name didn't pop up in the accelerated auction rounds towards the end. His absence led to widespread confusion and speculation about Ashwin pulling out his name from the auction.
After announcing his retirement from the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) in August, Ashwin decided to "become an explorer of various leagues" and registered his name for the auction of the fourth edition of the ILT20. He entered the fray with a base price tag of $120,000, the highest among all, but attracted no bidders after entering the fifth round of the auction.
Auctioneer Richard Madley waited for nearly two minutes for a bidder to express their interest, but none was forthcoming. Several expected that Ashwin would return during the accelerated rounds towards the end, but to everyone's surprise, it never did.
"We're hearing that he pulled himself out of the auction. It's a massive surprise to me; you've got to read the room. You've got to understand what's going on out there... and all that money left. Have a look at the purses left, there's three teams with over $400,000 left in their pot. Now, I don't think they came in not wanting to spend money," said broadcaster Simon Doull on the live post-auction show as quoted from Wisden.com.
"It's there to be spent. And if he [Ashwin] has pulled himself out of the auction, then he just hasn't read the room. Maybe he just thought, 'Well, they didn't pick me up in the first round, I'm going to pull out now, ' and that's just the wrong way to go about it. I think sides would have gone for him in the end," he added.
Owais Shah, sitting alongside Doull, said, "Early on, when we heard that he'd pulled his name out, we all thought, 'You've jumped the bridge too early'. Just hang in there, because of the fact that as auctions typically unfold, not everybody gets their man. And often, as you've seen, the amount of money that's left over, he would've easily got that $200,000, if not more. He is worth every penny."
After the auction concluded, each team had over $120,000 remaining in their auction purse, with Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, Dubai Capitals, and Gulf Giants walking out with purses exceeding $500,000. Considering the purchasing power of the franchises, Ashwin had viable options left to find a destination in the ILT20.
Notably, a couple of hours before the auction, a video was posted on Ashwin's YouTube channels, featuring presenter Sastika Rajendran, who explained the rules surrounding the ILT20 auction, along with some quotes from ILT20 CEO David White. However, the video is no longer accessible.
Last week, Ashwin signed with the Sydney Thunder ahead of the 15th season of the Big Bash League and was supposed to enter Thunder's line-up in early January and ignite the club's push to play in back-to-back BBL finals. However, after being snubbed in the ILT20 auction, the 39-year-old has agreed to play the entire BBL season.
Ashwin told ESPNcricinfo that once he realised he wouldn't get much attention in the ILT20 auction, he decided to pull out, and said, "I had agreed verbally with ILT20, but then the franchise offers were pretty low because the direct signings had been closed by all teams. Meanwhile, Thunder came with a good deal, but since I had verbally agreed with ILT20, I entered the auction saying this is the minimum price I want to play for, else I am happy going to the BBL."
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
