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Warner, Shardul, Shaw And...? Why 5 Star Players Remained Unsold In IPL 2025 Mega Auction

David Warner and Shardul Thakur remained unsold. [Source: @SPORTYVISHAL & @CricCrazyJohns/X]David Warner and Shardul Thakur remained unsold. [Source: @SPORTYVISHAL & @CricCrazyJohns/X]

Underneath the 182 cricketers who received bids during the recently concluded Indian Premier League 2025 mega auction are as many as 395 cricketers who remained unsold. While most of these names weren’t even called upon, some high-profile names were rejected more than once.

As much as surprising or saddening it is for fans of these players, A-list cricketers not finding buyers is an unwritten rule of the auction process. Historically, unsold players have made it to the league as injury replacements but one has to be really fortunate to be in that place.

As a result, the likes of David Warner, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Shardul Thakur and Jonny Bairstow are highly unlikely to partake in IPL 2025. Let’s analyse what went wrong with these tried and tested players:

David Warner

One of the seven captains to have ever lifted an IPL trophy, former Australia batter David Warner not finding a buyer has all but put an end to a decorated 15-year career. Warner, who amassed more than 500 runs for six seasons in a row between 2014-2020, has been way below his usually high standards lately.

Perhaps fortunate to have received a longer rope in the Australian team, Warner must’ve realized by now that IPL is a far more unforgiving prospect.

Since the start of 2024, Warner has scored 716 runs across 29 T20 innings at an average of 25.57 and a strike rate of 131.86. Speaking particularly of T20 leagues, Warner’s 333 runs this year have come at an average and strike rate of 18.50 and 114.43 respectively. With no need of deep-diving further, these numbers appear substandard in front of 38-year-old Warner’s IPL and T20 career.

Mayank Agarwal

Always considered as a hard-hitting batter meant to do well in limited-overs cricket, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that India batter Mayank Agarwal never really justified his potential in the IPL barring a stint with Punjab Kings.

In 67 IPL matches for Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), Rising Pune Supergiant and Sunrisers Hyderabad across nine seasons, all Agarwal managed were 1,148 runs at an average of 19.13 and a strike rate of 123.84. Between IPL 2022 and IPL 2024, which also includes a couple of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy seasons for Karnataka, the 33-year-old batter’s 821 T20 runs came at an average and strike rate of 22.19 and 128.68 respectively.

Prithvi Shaw

While current form didn’t favour Warner and Agarwal ahead of this auction, Prithvi Shaw’s concerns are more than just form. 79 out of Shaw’s 109 T20s have come for the same team in the IPL. Shaw scoring 304 runs at an average of 19 across two seasons for Delhi Capitals even forced the great Ricky Ponting to move on from him weeks after backing him publicly.

Shardul Thakur

While Agarwal hasn’t played an international match in almost three years now, Shaw hasn’t played one in over three years. All-rounder Shardul Thakur, on the other hand, represented India as recent as last year's Boxing Day Test.

If truth be told, Thakur, as an Indian pacer, not alluring a single bid across several rounds is shocking to say the least despite the fact that he never really cracked the T20 format.

Having played for three different teams in the last three seasons, which in itself is an indication of his performance, Thakur picked 27 wickets in 34 matches at an average of 37.11, an economy rate of 9.92 and a strike rate of 22.4.

Jonny Bairstow

Been dropped from England’s squads across formats, Jonny Bairstow has now been given the cold shoulder with regard to the IPL as well. Since making his debut in 2019, Bairstow, 35, won’t be featuring in an IPL season for the first time (injury excluded). Bairstow’s current form is better than the aforementioned names but it seems that England and IPL selectors have decided to look beyond him especially after a couple of mediocre seasons for PBKS.