The Hundred Draft: Five high-profile stars who went unsold

#2 Lasith Malinga

Lasith Malinga

Before the draft took place, there were enough reasons to believe that one of the teams would pick Lasith Malinga. The veteran's 4-wicket haul in the 2019 World Cup at Headingley against England showed how well the legend had studied the English conditions.

Furthermore, his match-winning performance against the formidable CSK in the 2019 IPL finals helped Mumbai Indians win by the smallest of margins. Therefore, it looked highly possible for him to receive a contract in The Hundred.

However, despite Malinga's recent exploits, he got unpicked. Malinga is the only bowler to have three hat-tricks in ODIs - two of them coming in World Cups. Besides, the king of the yorker recently became first bowler to take 100 wickets in T20I cricket.

Considering his past achievements and recent form, one of the franchises should have picked him. The only seeming reason for Malinga getting snubbed is the limit of three overseas players per side.

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#1 Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle needs no introduction. The self-proclaimed "Universe Boss" is an outstanding cricketer of the shortest format of the game. Hitting sixes at will and accumulating mammoth runs is as easy as eating a bar of chocolate for this legend.

No one plays a fast-paced cricket with so much power and dominance like Gayle. It is not an exaggeration to say that the ball travels wherever the left-hander wants it. However, the franchises of The Hundred weren't interested in him at the draft.

Despite being West Indies' leading run scorer in ODIs and the highest run scorer in T20s, Gayle was unable to attract any takers. The 40-year-old's unsuccessful captaincy and off-colour batting at CPL 2019, resulting in the Jamaica Tallawahs getting wooden spoon, might be a reason why he got ignored.

Ignoring Gayle seems to be good while considering the absence of long term potential in him, but his popularity and skills make one think otherwise. The hard-hitter has played many groundbreaking innings that increased the fame of T20 cricket. Therefore, it looks unfortunate for both Gayle and the new 100-ball format to miss each other.