Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
The IPL 2022 Mega Auction is over but the buzz around the same is not done yet. There are still some talking points left as some questions have still been left unanswered. While the two-day mega event witnessed ten franchises spending big bucks on a few new players, some marquee names failed to attract any bid at all.
India's batting stalwart Suresh Raina aka Mr. IPL, Australia's T20 World Cup-winning captain Aaron Finch, and England's top T20I batter Dawid Malan were some of the big names who went unsold at the IPL 2022 Mega Auction. There was one more name that failed to find a buyer and shocked everyone- Shakib Al Hasan.
The Bangladesh all-rounder has been an integral part of Kolkata Knight Riders over the years and has also served SunRisers Hyderabad for a few years. Shakib used to be a hot favorite when it came to choosing all-rounders but this time not one team showed interest in the 34-year-old.
This surely raised a few eyebrows, but it seems like there is a fair explanation for the same. Shakib Al Hasan's wife Umme Ahmed Shishir has revealed the reason behind Shakib Al Hasan not getting picked by any of the franchises at the mega auction and has claimed that a couple of them had already contacted the Bangladeshi cricketer. In a Facebook Post, Umme has said that Hasan did not agree to being available for the full season of IPL 2022 due to national duty and this was the reason behind him going unsold. She also added that it is not the end as there is always next year.
"Before you get too excited a Couple of teams contacted him directly ahead of time if he can be available for the full season, but unfortunately he can’t due to Sri Lanka series! This is why he did not get picked which is not a big deal, it is not the end, there’s always next year! In order to be picked he needed to skip SL series, so if he was picked would you have said the same? or would you have made him a traitor by now? Sorry to pour water on your excitement!" wrote Umme in her post.
While it seems like a sensible reason, there is no schedule out for Bangladesh playing Sri Lanka in any format.