After going unsold for 13 seasons, ex-B'desh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim opts out of IPL 2021

After having found no buyers in the past 13 seasons of the IPL, former Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim has opted out of auctions for the IPL 2021. The former Bangladesh skipper, who has a formidable T20 record, has not registered for the IPL 2021 auctions slated to be held on February 18 in Chennai, the cricketer's managing company affirmed. The wicket-keeper batsman has failed to bag an IPL contract since 2008 and failed to be a part of the 2020 IPL as he remained unsold at the base price of Rs 75 lakhs. 

Across 202 T20 matches since 2006 when he made his international debut, Rahim has managed to score 4288 runs at an average and strike-rate of 28.97 and 127.96 respectively. His top score of an unbeaten 98 came against the Cumilla Warriors when he represented the Khulna Tigers in the 2019-20 edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

With 5th February being the last date of players registering for the IPL auctions, the BCCI confirmed that 1097 players had enrolled themselves. Rahim's Bangladeshi teammate Shakib Al Hassan has however enrolled himself at a base price of Rs 2 crores for the auction and is expected to find a buyer after his previous successful stints in the IPL. 

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Starc, Root opt-out of IPL 2021

Team India's Test specialists Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari are amongst the 1097 players who have registered for the upcoming IPL 2021 auction, PTI reported on Friday night. The pool of players also includes Arjun Tendulkar, son of batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who recently made his Mumbai debut in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy making him eligible for the auction.

Significantly, Australia's lethal pacer Mitchell Starc has opted to stay out of the IPL 2021 auction. There has been a lot of talk around the Australian's probable teams in the upcoming season and if he would have been the most expensive buy of the season. Along with Starc, England's Test skipper Joe Root has also opted out of the IPL 2021. England players Harry Gurney and Tom Banton have also decided to give the IPL 2021 a skip.  

READ | 1097 Players Enroll For IPL 2021 Auction; Sreesanth In, Starc Out Of Bidding Pool: Report

The current number one T20 batsman in the world, England's Dawid Malan has set his eyes on IPL as he registered for the auction at a base price of Rs 1.5 crore. Australian pacer James Pattinson, who played a crucial role in Mumbai Indians' title-run last year, is a prominent absentee. Harbhajan Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Jason Roy, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett and Colin Ingram—all set their base price at Rs 2 crore.  Kings XI Punjab go into the auction with the biggest purse available at with Rs 53.20 crore, followed by RCB (Rs 35.90 crore), RR (Rs 34.85 crore), CSK (Rs 22.90 crore), MI (Rs 15.35 crore), DC (Rs 12.9 crore) and Rs 10.75 crore each for KKR and SRH. 

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