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Yuvraj Singh, Angelo Matthews and Dinesh Karthik were bought by Indian Premier League franchises for 16 crore, 7.5 crore and 10.5 crore respectively but they couldn’t shell out a base price for class players like Kumar Sangakkara and Hashim Amla. It is almost tragic that these run machines, who have performed at the biggest stage of all have no takers in cricket's cash-rich league. The IPL 8 starts on April 8, and here are seven players who should have been picked just for the class and number of runs they hit in the World Cup, but were ignored.
He has scored the maximum runs in the World Cup for any Sri Lankan - 541. The ease with which he is striking the ball is testimony of the intent and hunger he still possesses. Too bad he is quitting the ODI format. The tournament where he's amassed 1687 runs including 10 fifties in 71 matches, will be poorer without him.
The calmness that he brings to the South African side may force people to call him a saint or a monk. He looks to be ideal partner for a swashbuckling opener like Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner or Aaron Finch. Wouldn't we love to see that. His steady hand at the top has ensured his side has reached the knockouts yet again. Performance in World Cup: 333 runs in 7 innings.
This Sri Lankan opener was probably not picked due to his inexperience and inability to handle pressure particularly against the pace battery. But he has proved his critics wrong scoring at a quick strike rate of 85. For teams like Delhi Daredevils, he might have just been the right ingredient to their unstable squad.
Marlon Samuels may have faded away after his blistering hundred against Zimbabwe, but he remains a massive force in the T20 game. Built to shred the bowling to pieces, he matches languid batting style with brute force to dent the bowling side's confidence. He was a sensible pick at Rs 1,50,00,000.
Dilshan's exclusion defies logic. His decade-long experience in handling flat pitches in the subcontinent would have been invaluable for any team. Plus, his energy on the field, even while bowling is electric and infectious.
Perhaps, Zimbabwe's best-ever World Cup performer with 433 runs in 6 games with two big tons against Ireland and India, this handy wicket-keeper batsman was a steal at a base price of Rs 30,00,000. Taylor, a smart operator with the bat, mixes unorthodoxy with aggression to get the runs at any time.
Bangladesh came up with their best World Cup performance thanks to his 365 runs in 6 games which included two hundreds. He batted with responsibility and whenever needed upped the ante.
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