Why Dan Christian can expect another pay cut

On paper, Daniel Christian is the kind of player that T20 teams love. He can hit the big shots, he bowls medium pace, and is a decent fielder. According to ESPNcricinfo, he was first called up to the Australian T20 side in 2010 “following a series of brutal, clever and consistent performances in the limited-overs formats with South Australia”. It was on the basis of this potential that he was bought by Deccan Chargers for $900,000 in 2011. At that point, Christian was yet to make his ODI debut for Australia and and had played just three matches for Australia. So potential was the name of the game. [caption id=“attachment_687894” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Dan Christian gave up 24 runs in the 17th over against Mumbai Indians. BCCI[/caption] It turns out that his talents did not translate as well to the Indian subcontinent. He did respectably in 2011 – averaging 17.27 with the bat and took 11 wickets while conceding less than 8 runs an over, but not numbers you want from someone who cost almost a million dollars. He also happened to cost the Chargers a game when he conceded 18 runs in the final over to Mumbai Indians. His decline in value was reflected when Royal Challengers Bangalore picked him up for just $100,000 this year, an amount almost 90% lower. That value will probably take a further hit after he failed with the bat and almost cost Bangalore the game with the ball when Dinesh Karthik smashed him for 6,6,6,4. None of this is to say that Christian doesn’t have a place in the IPL. It is price for that place that is the question (Glenn Maxwell cost Mumbai Indians $1,000,000, but he wasn’t even in the starting line-up for the game against Royal Challengers). And there are plenty of other’s who can expect their values to slide in next year’s auction – Saurabh Tiwary for one – unless they produce on the field in this season. Of course, the balancing act of price versus potential and performance will never go away. Even mature leagues in the US and Europe face the same problem. But players like Christian serve as a reminder of easy it is to get things wrong.