This article is part of our IPL Preview series.
Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 edition is set to begin in less than a month and the fans are counting days before they can watch their favorite stars competing in the cash-rich T20 competition.
This year's competition, unlike the previous one, is scheduled to be organized in India despite the coronavirus concerns still present in the country.
However, it is not clear how many spectators will be allowed to watch the match live in the stadiums.
Here are five players who are expected to be the biggest absentees during the upcoming competition.
Aaron Finch is a renowned name in T20 cricket as he has already scored 9,718 runs in the shortest format of the game—the sixth highest in the history of the 20-over format. Despite such impressive numbers, the right-hander went unsold during the IPL 2021 auction as no team made a move for him. In the IPL, Finch has played 87 matches where he has managed to score 2,005 runs at an average of 25.70 along with the strike-rate of 127.70, which included 14 half-centuries.
Alex Hales is being termed by many as the best player currently playing T20 cricket. Ever since being dropped from the national team before the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup in 2019, the right-hander has been in outstanding form with the bat in hand across different leagues in the world. Hales had a base price of INR 1.5 crore in the IPL 2021 auction but no team made a move for him. The 32-year-old has played 290 matches in the shortest format of the game where he has managed to score 8,066 runs at an average of 30.20 along with an impressive strike-rate of 144.70, which included four centuries and 51 half-centuries.
Jason Roy is being termed as one of the most explosive batsmen currently playing in white-ball cricket. The England international, who was released by Delhi Capitals ahead of the 14th edition of the competition, went unsold during the auction where he had a base price of INR 2 Crore. The right-hander has already played 233 matches in the shortest format of the game where he has managed to score 6,045 runs at an average of 27.85 along with an impressive strike-rate of 142.50, which included four centuries and 50 half-centuries.
Sandeep Lamichhane became the most high-profile bowler who went unsold during the IPL 2021 auction. The Nepal international arrived as a sensation in India's cash-rich T20 league in 2018 when he was signed by Delhi Daredevils. However, during his two seasons with the Delhi-based franchise, Lamichhane could not produce the kind of numbers he was expected to achieve with the ball in hand. The 20-year-old has already played 96 T20s in his career in different leagues where he has 125 wickets to his name at an average of 18.86 along with an impressive strike-rate of 16.66.
Mohit Sharma is a renowned name in the history of IPL where he had a successful association with Chennai Super Kings. However, this year, the veteran pacer went unsold during the auction for the 2021 edition. Sharma has played 86 matches in IPL where he has managed to claim 92 wickets. Half of those matches was for Chennai where he managed to claim 58 wickets.
