Ishant Sharma IPL auction 2018
India's Test pacer Ishant Sharma has lowered his base price from 2 crore to 75 lakh for the IPL auction. Image Courtesy: Getty Images

Ishant Sharma, India’s strike bowler in Tests, has lowered his base price to 75 Lakhs from Rs 2 Crore for the upcoming IPL auction.

Ishant, surprisingly, went unsold in the previous auction. He was all set to fly out to England to play county cricket, but Kings XI Punjab signed him before the start of the league as a replacement of an injured Murali Vijay.

Ishant though disappointed, as he went wicketless during the full season in six games he played. He also leaked runs at an economy-rate of 9.94, which was a concern for his side.

Kings XI Punjab Virender Sehwag Retain
Image Courtesy: BCCI

Kings XI Punjab failed to make it to the next round after they lost their last league stage game. Virender Sehwag, the mentor and Chief of Cricket Operations of the franchise, criticised foreign players for the team failing it to make it to the next stage.

With Ishant lowering down his base price, there are high chances of him getting an IPL buyer this time on the auction day, as his high base price was the main reason behind him going unsold last year.

Ishant, who came in the league as a promising youngster way back in 2008, is now not a permanent member of playing XI in IPL as in past four seasons, he had just played 17 IPL games.

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There will be many surprises in this IPL auction as now, India team has already created almost a two different sides for Test and limited-overs cricket, which will have its impact on the price at which the players will be sold.

The IPL auction for the upcoming season will be held on January 27 and 28 in Bangalore. A total of 1122 players have registered for the auction. Joe Root has emerged out as the star attraction out of all the players.

The 11th edition of the league will start in the first week of April. Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals will make their comeback in the T20 league after serving a ban of two years.

Follow IPL 2018 news here

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