Ganguly, Gayle & Jayasuriya ignored for the list of IPL teams 2011 players

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was on Sunday left untouched by the 10 Indian Premier League (IPL) franchisees at the player auction, effectively signalling the end of a successful cricket career in a most embarrassing manner. Former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Ganguly, who had voluntarily jacked his base price from Rs. 92 lakh to Rs. 1.84 crore, had to bear the ignominy of not being bought on Saturday and hoped that some franchisee would finally pick him when the unsold players were up for sale again on Sunday. It did not happen.

On the other side of the spectrum, unknown Australian fast bowler Daniel Christian was bought by Deccan Chargers for a whopping Rs. 4.14 crore — 18 times his base price — on the second and final day of the auction in Bangalore. Ganguly’s omission completely overshadowed Christian’s unexpectedly high price. The 27-yearold player has played only three Twenty20 Internationals but 2009 champions Deccan Chargers saw huge potential in him.

“We believe Christian is a good buy. He is good fast bowler and a decent batsman. He is also a brilliant fielder,” pointed out Chargers owner Gayathri Reddy. Gautam Gambhir remained the highest earner by a distance among the 353 players auctioned after KKR bought him for Rs. 11.04 crore on Saturday.

Besides Ganguly, to everyone’s surprise, ageing Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, Sanath Jayasuriya and Mark Boucher were among those players who remained unsold. Fifty-five players were sold on Sunday, in addition to the 72 on the first day. N Srinivasan, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, confirmed that it was the end of the road for all those unsold, including Ganguly, in the lucrative IPL beginning on April 8.

“The players who were on the auction list and remained unsold can’t play in the IPL. However, franchisees who have some purse left of their maximum of $9 million (Rs. 4.14 crore) can buy uncapped players from 10 am tomorrow,” Srinivasan told. Of course, Ganguly, 38, can still play a role if he joins a team’s support staff, provided the franchisees, who have all become much smarter with their money vis-à-vis IPL, are interested in a player who was also known for his leadership qualities.

A couple of team owners dropped hints to that effect. But the question is: Were they really serious or just being diplomatic in front of television? Srinivasan said that the unsold players can join teams as officials. “But I don’t think anyone will sign them,” he felt. While Ganguly was unlucky, New Zealand’s Jesse Ryder (Pune Warriors, Rs. 6.9 crore), Murali Kartik (Pune, Rs. 1.84 cr) and Mohammad Kaif (Bangalore Royal Challengers, Rs. 5.98 cr) were among the fortunate 12 who finally found buyers after being rejected initially.

On a dull second day, Ganguly remained the hot topic. Some people wondered the need for the wealthy businessman from Kolkata to stick to a format that suits youngsters. “Amazing! And wasn’t he instrumental in setting up the KKR team? Now, even Shah Rukh Khan [co-owner of the franchisee] is not saying anything,” former India captain Ajit Wadekar told us.

Bishan Singh Bedi was more straightforward. “It’s quite baffling that he allowed himself to be humiliated like this. It’s the height of humiliation. There must be someone advising him. I would like to ask Sourav that if he wanted to play on why he retired in the first place,” wondered the former captain. He felt Ganguly could have opted to join the support staff of one of the teams. Ganguly, India’s most successful Test captain, has staged at least two comebacks to firstclass cricket. He returned again in the ongoing domestic season after KKR announced that it would not retain him. In 2009, he was removed from captaincy but was reinstated last year. While Ganguly failed to decide where to draw the line, he has done enough as India captain — and with the bat — to be remembered for a long time. He has 7,212 Test runs and 11,363 ODI runs. And he is a successful businessman. He says his family owns the third-largest printing press in Asia. So, whatever people may say for his carrying on and on, Ganguly’s only fault seems to be that he failed to realise when to call it quits.