IPL 2021: The Worst Buy Every Season (Costliest Players Who Failed)

Chennai will host the IPL 2021 auction on 18th February. Every franchise and many players are waiting for it, while the cricket fans are excited to see players’ selections, including the costliest player in the IPL auction.

In the past history of the IPL auctions, we saw many fights between the franchises to buy a player which ultimately makes the player costlier. While some top costliest players enjoyed those IPL seasons, some other top costliest players struggled in those special IPL seasons.

Here we are talking about the costliest players who failed to impress in that particular season as he became the worst buy of that season. Here we have excluded those names who played a very few matches (like 2 or 3 matches) during those special IPL seasons.

IPL 2021: The Worst Buy Every Season (Costliest Players Who Failed)

IPL 2008: Ishant Sharma

The Indian tall right-arm pacer Ishant Sharma was the fourth most costliest player in the IPL 2008 auction as Kolkata Knight Riders bought him for US$ 950,000, majorly due to his success in early international career. But the tall pacer had very hard time in the entire IPL 2008 as he managed to pick up only 8 wickets in 13 games.

IPL 2009: Kevin Pietersen

Then English star cricketer Kevin Pietersen was the joint costliest player in the IPL 2009 auction along with his national teammate Andrew Flintoff. While both were sold out for US$ 1.55 million each in that auction, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bought Flintoff and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) won the bid for Pietersen.

Both of them played a limited period in that IPL 2009 due to their international commitment. Pietersen was the captain of RCB team but he scored 93 runs and took 4 wickets in six matches of that tournament. Though Pietersen-led RCB were struggling in the early period of that tournament, they finally finished as the runners-up under the leadership of Anil Kumble.

IPL 2010: Mohammad Kaif

Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif surprisingly became the fifth most expensive player in the IPL 2010 auction despite getting no bid during the initial phase of that auction. Later, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) bought him for US$ 250,000. But in four matches of that IPL season, Kaif scored only 28 runs.

IPL 2011: Robin Uthappa

Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa was the joint second costliest player in the IPL 2011 auction. In that auction, Pune Warriors India (PWI) put their winning bid of US$ 2.1 million to secure the ICC World T20 2007 winner. But it wasn’t a memorable IPL season for Uthappa who only scored 264 runs in 11 games (average 26.40; strike-rate 126.31), including his best score of 45 runs.

IPL 2012: Ravindra Jadeja

In the IPL 2012 auction, Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was the costliest player as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bought him for US$ 2 million. But his performances in that season didn’t match with his bidding price. In that IPL season, while CSK finished as the runners-up, Jadeja scored 191 runs and took 12 wickets in 19 matches of that season.

IPL 2013: Abhishek Nayar

Indian all-rounder Abhishek Nayar was the joint fourth most costliest player in the IPL 2013 auction. Pune Warriors India (PWI) won that bid for US$ 675,000. But that all-rounder didn’t shine in that entire season in both batsman and bowler roles. After appearing in 11 matches of that season, Nayar scored only 66 runs and took only 2 wickets for PWI.

IPL 2014: Kevin Pietersen

In the IPL 2014 auction, England star cricketer Kevin Pietersen became the third most expensive player. Delhi Daredevils bought him for INR 9 crore but his performance was not strong enough in that season. In 11 matches of that season, Pietersen scored 294 runs (average 29.40; strike-rate 126.18). He only managed to perform well in that season during the late moment of the league stage, where he scored his only half-century in that tournament along with two other 40s of that tournament.

IPL 2015: Yuvraj Singh

Indian experienced all-rounder Yuvraj Singh was the costliest player of the IPL 2015 as Delhi Daredevils put the highest bid for him in that auction for INR 16 crore. However, the all-rounder hugely disappointed with his performances in that IPL season. After playing his 14 matches in that season, Yuvraj scored 248 runs and only wicket. Though the left-handed batsman hit two half-centuries in that season, his batting wasn’t strong enough in that season.

IPL 2016: Pawan Negi

Indian all-rounder Pawan Negi was the second most expensive player in the IPL 2016 auction. Once again Delhi Daredevils put the huge bid for a player as they won the bid for Negi for INR 8.5 crore. However, Negi disappointed in that season as he scored 57 runs (average 28.50; strike-rate 96.61) and took one wicket in 8 matches.

IPL 2017: Tymal Mills

The English left-arm pacer Tymal Mills was the second costliest cricketer in the IPL 2017 auction. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) put the strongest bid for him of INR 12 crore to secure him in the squad. However, the fast bowler played only five matches in that season where managed to pick up five wickets.

IPL 2018: Ben Stokes

While Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) finished as the runners-up in the IPL 2017, their star all-rounder Ben Stokes won the Most Valuable Player of the year award. So, there was no surprise that English all-rounder Stokes became the costliest player of that auction. This time the comeback side Rajasthan Royals (RR) bought him for INR 12.50 crore. However, he disappointed everyone as he scored 196 runs and took 8 wickets in 13 matches of that season.

IPL 2019: Jaydev Unadkat

Despite his struggle in the IPL 2018, Rajasthan Royals (RR) again put strongest bid for the Indian left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat in the IPL 2019 auction, where ultimately he became the joint most expensive player in that auction. Rajasthan Royals finally secured Unadkat in the IPL 2019 auction after putting the winning bid of IPL 8.4 crore. But once again, Unadkat failed to impress as he collected 10 wickets in 11 matches of the IPL 2019.

IPL 2020: Pat Cummins

Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins was the costliest player in the IPL 2020 auction. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) finally won that bid for INR 15.5 crore. Though he improved his performances in the late of that tournament, Cummins only got 12 wickets in 14 matches of that IPL season. Meanwhile, he also scored one half-century in the IPL 2020 as he scored 146 runs in 14 matches (average 20.85; strike-rate 128.07) but it couldn’t close the gap.