IPL Auction 2022: From Mitchell Starc to Chris Gayle, top players not part of mega auction

Excitement is in the air with the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction around the corner.

The two-day mega auction will take place in Bengaluru on 12 and 13 February, with a total of 590 cricketers set to go under the hammer.

While some big names like RCB’s Virat Kohli and MI’s Rohit Sharma were retained by their respective franchises, there will be other top Indian and overseas stars like R Ashwin, Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan, Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada among a few who will be in huge demand over the two days.

The upcoming edition of the cash-rich league promises to be even bigger with the introduction of two new franchises – The Lucknow Super Giants and the Ahmedabad franchise. KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya will be leading the Lucknow and Ahmedabad teams respectively.

However, there will be quite a few big names missing from the auction. While the likes of Ben Stokes and Joe Root have pulled out to come back fresh for England’s home season, some others have cited the difficult bio-bubble life as a reason.

Here’s a look at the top five players who are not part of the auction:

Chris Gayle

One of the biggest names in the league and a legend of T20s, the Universe Boss Chris Gayle might have played his final game in the cash-rich league last season.

The West Indian big-hitter played 10 games for Punjab Kings last season, but scored just 193 runs at an average of 21, and in September, he opted out of the remainder of tournament citing bubble fatigue.

And in November last year, Gayle seemed to have played his last game for West Indies when they faced Australia in their final group match of the T20 World Cup 2021, but later clarified he’s only ‘semi-retired’.

In December last year, Gayle was among the 443 players in the Pakistan Super League draft, but found no suitor eventually.

Gayle did turn up for Team Abu Dhabi in the T10 League, and even more recently for the Barishal outfit in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), but hasn’t had a notable knock barring an innings of 45 against Khulna Tigers. He’s opted out of this edition of the IPL.

Ben Stokes

Another big name to opt out of the IPL 2022 mega auction is England all-rounder Ben Stokes. Stokes played just one match for Rajasthan Royals in all of IPL 2021 before being ruled out of the tournament with a broken finger in April last year.

In May, however, the IPL was postponed due to rise in COVID-19 cases, and the tournament resumed in September.

However, just ahead of England’s home Test series against India, Stokes announced that he was taking an indefinite break from cricket, meaning that he would give the second half of IPL 2021 a miss.

Stokes returned to training from the break in October last year, and was part of England’s Ashes squad where they surrendered to a 4-0 defeat. Stokes, too, had an unimpressive series, scoring just 236 runs at an average of just over 23.

In January this year, London’s Evening Standard had reported that Stokes would in fact give IPL 2022 a miss in order to mentally and physically refresh ahead of England’s home summer.

“Stokes will sit out this year’s tournament, which will feature 10 teams for the first time and be preceded by a mega-auction in which there are plenty of spaces to fill,” the English newspaper reported.

England are slated to host India for the pending fifth Test, three T20Is and as many ODIs before welcoming South Africa for three ODIs and as many T20Is and Tests. This will be followed by the T20 World Cup set to be held in Australia.

Stokes’ absence was confirmed when the IPL player list was released.

Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc is another high-profile cricketer who has decided against participating in IPL 2022.

Starc has stated he wants to spend time with his cricketer-wife Alyssa Healy and family, while also stressing on the fact that the extended bio-bubble might be strenuous.

“I was a click of the button away from entering the auction but personally didn’t want to spend 22 more weeks in a bubble,” Starc was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

“There will be a time where I’d love to go back to the IPL but in terms of wanting to play as much as I can for Australia, that’s a decision I’ve done for a while. It gives me an opportunity to spend time with Alyssa and family in those eight weeks outside of a cricket bubble,” the 32-year-old added.

It has been nearly seven years since Australia pacer Mitchell Starc’s last IPL appearance. He last took part in IPL 2015, when he turned up for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), scalping 20 wickets in 13 games.

Three years later, in 2018, Starc was snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders for a whopping price of Rs 9.40, but could get a chance to prove his worth, as he was ruled out of the entire tournament due to an injury on his right leg.

In November 2018, KKR then released Mitchell Starc, and later, Starc decided that he would not take part in IPL 2019.

He opted out of the IPL for a further two more seasons, and IPL 2022 will mark the fourth consecutive season he is opting out of.

Kyle Jamieson

New Zealand’s Kyle Jamieson was the second-most expensive player at the IPL 2021 player auction, with RCB spending as much as Rs 15 crore for him.

The 2021 season was Jamieson’s maiden appearance in the IPL after entering the international spotlight in early 2020. He picked up nine wickets from as many games last season, but this season, the 27-year-old has said that he would give the IPL a miss.

Jamieson cited quarantine, and bio-bubble life as reasons for not taking part in IPL auctions this year.

“Yeah, look, there were a couple of things for me (for opting out),” Jamieson was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

“Firstly, after the last 12 months, it’s had its challenges with MIQs (managed isolation and quarantine) and bubbles and spending a fair amount of time in that sort of set-up.

It was important for me, when I look at the schedule coming up over the next 12 months to try and find six weeks or eight weeks where I can spend some time at home,” Jamieson added.

Joe Root

In January 2022, England Test skipper Joe Root had hinted an interest in returning to the IPL 2022 auctions, four years after going unsold.

Joe Root had a base price of Rs 1.50 crore in IPL 2018 auction, but eventually went unsold that season.

However, Root had a forgettable Ashes series Down Under, with England succumbing to a 0-4 series defeat, prompting Root to ‘sacrifice’ his opportunity to enter the IPL auction pool.

“There’s a lot that we need to do for this team, which deserves all of my energy,” Root had said after the fifth Ashes Test.

“I’ll keep sacrificing as much as I can because I care so much about Test cricket in our country and trying to get us to where we want to be,” he had added.