Eden garden without its flower

One of the most successful Indian captains ever Saurav Ganguly, was not considered to be worth enough to play for any IPL (Indian Premier League) franchise by their respective owners. The player who had an Icon player status in the 1^st edition remained unsold.

There are many ex Indian cricketers who feel that he should have been picked. His absence will surely be felt at the Eden Gardens where he is equivalent to God. It would be interesting to see how his diehard fans at Kolkata would react to his absence in the IPL. They are sure to showcase their frustrations in full public view in the days to come. Their love for Dada is inevitable. As I write this piece, there are numerous Internet forums where fans are showing dissatisfaction with his absence in IPL.

Most of the teams looked for youth rather than experience. Sourav Ganguly’s 10 years experience in international cricket stood nowhere in the new modern era of Twenty20 cricket. His depleting age, and fielding only added to the woes and proves to be a lame excuse for his absence in the forth coming IPL. His long absence from the game also contributed to his many negative points that led to him being unsold. He was also the oldest Indian player in the auction.

VVS Laxman and Dravid were lucky enough to be picked by different owners. Else, they would have been in the same bracket as Saurav. Dada himself pinned his hopes when he raised his base price to 1.84 crores which had no takers.

IPL 4 auction was well thought out by each and every team. Many teams had come with a clear picture in mind as to what kind of team they wished to put on paper. The most important factor that played into the mind of the owners was players’ availability which crippled many a teams in earlier editions. As a result, many English and West Indian players remained unsold, which also includes Chris Gayle along with English Ashes heroes.

There were clever buys this time around by respective franchises where they all went in for big Indian players unlike the 1st edition of the IPL. No one would have expected the Delhi lad, Gautam Gambhir to top the chart but he became the most expensive player ahead of the most sought after IPL player, Yusuf Pathan.

With as many as 10 IPL teams, the players are in for a long IPL season. The competition is going to tougher and more competitive than previous seasons. There are many players who wants to prove their point and knock at the selectors door.

Had Saurav been picked, would he have lasted the entire tournament? We do not need to have sleepless night over this question because the fact is Saurav will not figure in the 4^th season of IPL.