Out-of-favour Bhuvneshwar Kumar leads Indian pacers’ ‘Pay Day’ at IPL mega auction

Out of national reckoning for more than two years, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s experience was in demand among the IPL franchises with Royal Challengers Bengaluru buying him for Rs 10.75 crore as lesser-fancied Indian fast bowlers hit pay dirt on the second day of the mega auction here on Monday.

The Mumbai troika of Shardul Thakur, Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane, along with New Zealand stars Kane Williamson and Glenn Phillips, were among the unsold players.

Bhuvneshwar, who will be 35 before the start of next IPL, has 300 wickets from 287 career T20 games and an economy rate of less than eight. But he last played for India during a tour of New Zealand in November 2022 and is considered well past his prime at the international level.

However, with at least three Indian pacers needed per team, the pool is not large enough to ensure equal distribution among the 10 teams.

Therefore, an out-of-favour Bhuvneshwar, an injury-prone Deepak Chahar (Rs 9.25 crore for Mumbai Indians) and a Test reserve Mukesh Kumar (Rs eight crore RTM by Delhi Capitals) got good deals on the second day when franchises came with leaner purse after splurging away on Sunday.

Akash Deep, the Test pacer, got a Rs 8 crore deal from Lucknow Super Giants.

What works for Chahar and Bhuvneshwar is their ability to swing the white ball in Powerplays. Mukesh has takers for his wide yorkers at the death.

Even a Tushar Deshpande, who has an economy rate of close to 10 runs per over, was snapped by Rajasthan Royals at Rs 6.50 crore. He is currently recuperating from an ankle operation.

Former RCB skipper Faf du Plessis became the biggest bargain buy for Delhi Capitals at a base price of Rs two crore while Gujarat Titans were smart to lap up India all-rounder Washington Sundar for Rs 3.20 crore.

The paucity of good seam bowling Indian all-rounders in the auction list allowed South African Marco Jansen to laugh his way to the bank with a Rs seven crore deal from Punjab Kings.

Englishman Sam Curran, who had once attracted a Rs 18 crore bid, only had a couple of takers with CSK bringing him back home at Rs 2.40 crore.

Shardul, Shaw and Rahane can come back for the accelerated auction if the franchises pick them for it.

For Rahane, it wasn’t surprising as his form dipped alarmingly during his second season with CSK and during the ongoing domestic season, he has managed to hold his Mumbai spot due to his role of skipper.

In case of Shardul, it is the ‘Impact Player’ rule that became his undoing as neither his batting has the requisite firepower for T20 cricket nor does his seam bowling, with a T20I economy rate of 9.15, inspires confidence.

For Shaw, massive weight gain and fitness issues along with off-the-field drama has not exactly enhanced his reputation.

Among the three, only Shaw still has a chance to find some takers at the end because of his explosive Powerplay game. But his struggle against quality pace is well-documented.

Hardik Pandya’s brother Krunal Pandya got a Rs 5.75 crore deal from RCB who needed an experienced spin bowling all-rounder.

Nitish Rana, who had once breached the million dollar mark as an uncapped player, got a Rs 4.20 crore winning bid from Rajasthan Royals.