"Pretty SAD, he definitely deserves a team"- Fans in disbelief as Shardul Thakur remains unsold at IPL 2025 Auction

Shardul Thakur was a part of India's 2023 ODI World Cup squad 12 months ago. He had an IPL contract worth ₹10.75 crore with the Kolkata Knight Riders as well. 12 months later, Thakur is neither a part of the Indian ODI team nor does he have an IPL contract.

It was quite surprising to see Thakur go unsold at the IPL 2025 Mega Auction. He is among the top pace-bowling all-rounders in India. Plus, he was also a part of the Chennai Super Kings squad that won the IPL trophy in 2018 and 2021.

Known for his clutch performances, Thakur could have been an asset for any IPL franchise at his base price of ₹2 crore. While he can still return to the league as a replacement signing, the news of him going unsold left many fans surprised. One of the X users wrote on his timeline:

"Shardul Thakur went unsold. Pretty SAD, he definitely deserves a team."

Another fan recalled how Thakur was once compared with Jacques Kallis, but now he remained unsold at the age of 33.

"From being hailed as the next Jacque Kallis to being unsold at the age of 33. What a downfall for Lord Shardul Thakur," the fan tweeted.

Another IPL fan opined that Thakur could have bagged an IPL deal had he kept his base price at ₹50 lakh.

"If Thakur kept his base price to 50L he would have been sold by now," the fan wrote.

Not just Shardul Thakur, several other capped Indian cricketers went unsold at the IPL 2025 Mega Auction

Capped Indian cricketers are always in demand at the auctions, but the same wasn't the case this time around. The likes of Mayank Agarwal, Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Warrier, KS Bharat, Prithvi Shaw, Shivam Mavi, Sarfaraz Khan, Umesh Yadav and Chetan Sakariya also remained unsold.

"Can't believe Indian players like shardul thakur, mayank agarwal & prithvi shaw went unsold," an X user reacted.

Even Ajinkya Rahane remained unsold in the initial round of the mega auction. Another fan explained why the capped cricketers remained unsold and said:

"Teams are really focusing on the XI first and literally negligible or zero importance to the backups. Players like Shardul Thakur, Rahane, Prithvi Shaw getting unsold are the after effects of it."

It will be interesting to see if Thakur gets an IPL deal as a replacement. He can be a valuable addition to any franchise in IPL 2025.