Piyush Chawla goes unsold after becoming first Indian player to register for Bangladesh Premier League auction

Former India leg-spinner Piyush Chawla had made headlines recently after registering for the Bangladesh Premier League auction. The significance of Chawla becoming the first Indian cricketer to be involved with the BPL, however, had no effect on any of the six franchises with 36-year-old going unsold at the auction that took place recently.

Chawla has played for various franchises in the Indian Premier League including powerhouses Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, had decided to enter his name in the BPL auction player pool less than six months after retiring from all forms of cricket.

Shoaib Malik, Johnson Charles join Chawla in unsold list

And at BPL’s first auction since the inaugural edition in 2012, Chawla – who had represented India in 25 ODIs and was part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad – went unsold along with other retired stars such as former Pakistan captain and all-rounder Shoaib Malik as well as ex-England all-rounders Ravi Bopara and Samit Patel.

Current stars such as Pakistan T20I captain Salman Agha and Sri Lankan white-ball skipper Charith Asalanka were expected to fetch bids at the auction, only to end up in the unsold list alongside West Indian stars such as Johnson Charles and Keemo Paul.

Bangladesh legends such as Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah had also gone unsold initially, only to be put up for sale again following the intervention of Bangladesh Cricket Board Director and Rangpur Riders CEO Ishtiaque Sadeque. The Riders and Rajshahi Warriors signed Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur respectively at their base price of USD 28,000.

Opening batter Mohammad Naim fetched the highest bid at the BPL auction with Chittagong Royals signing him for BDT 1 crore (USD 88,000 or INR 79.11 lakh). Naim, incidentally, was also the first player to go under the hammer in the BPL in more than a decade, with the league having switched to a draft system in the intervening years.

Other major earners at the BPL auction were also batters, Towhid Hridoy and T20I wicketkeeper-captain Litton Das fetching bids worth USD 73,600 and USD 56,000 respectively, both players going to Rangpur Riders. Sri Lankan all-rounder Dasun Shanaka, meanwhile, was the most expensive overseas signing at USD 55,000 the price that Dhaka Capitals shelled out at the auction to secure him.