Despite holding the top rank in the current International Cricket Council (ICC) bowlers ranking for T20I’s, South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir could not attract the franchises in the IPL 2017 auctions.
Tahir was unsold in the first round of the auction, but his name was put in the list to be re-auctioned. However, he went unsold once again.
The Proteas star player, who represented the Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2016, lost his contract towards the end of last year.
The Daredevils officials gave out some reasons, rather excuses, detailing why Tahir went unsold at the auctions, despite coming in with a low base price of just Rs 50 lakhs.
Pravin Amre, the assistant coach of the Delhi Daredevils said, “We have Amit Mishra as part of the squad and bowlers like Jayant Yadav and M Ashwin give us solid strength in the spin department. Even last year, Mishra played all the games but we couldn’t find a way to fit Tahir into our XI. That is why we let him go.”
The other teams also didn’t have a look at the leg-spinner since there were questions over his availability for the entire season. South Africa would be touring England in mid-May and Tahir could be picked up for the Test squad. Also, none of the franchise would want the 37 year-old warming the benches, since he isn’t someone who can contribute much with the bat.
