It was groundhog day for David Warner as he again went unsold at the Indian Premier League auction, likely ending an lucrative, run-laden connection with the blockbuster T20 competition.
The explosive opener has scored 6 565 runs at a strike rate of 140 and an average above 40 in the IPL, but as on Sunday, none of the ten franchises were prepared to invest in the 38-year-old left-hander as the auction would up with a lengthy second day's bidding in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Steve Smith also went unsold having set his stall out at the same base price of two crore ($365,000). Despite pairing with Ricky Ponting as Washington Freedom's captain and coach to win Major League Cricket in the USA Punter wasn't keen on taking another punt on Smith.
Instead Ponting packed his new Punjab Kings team with other Aussies, signing Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie and Xavier Bartlett to join Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis who were acquired on day one.
Nor was there any interest in English bowling veteran James Anderson. Seeking to make an IPL debut at the age of 42 he did not even come up in the bidding.
Instead the headline act was an unknown, 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who was sold for $200,000 to Rajasthan Royals.
The youngster, who made his debut in India's domestic Ranji Trophy at 12, hit a 58-ball hundred in the youth Test against Australia U19s in October, but made one and three in his other innings in the two-match series.
The biggest-earning Australian on day two was Tim David, the big-hitting all-rounder joining Royal Challengers Bengaluru for $550,000.
Close behind was Spencer Johnson. He was a Ponting target but Kings were outbid by Kolkata Knight Riders who offered $510,000.Β
However, Ponting did then land Hardie for $225,000 and, after missing out on Nathan Ellis (who went to Chennai Super Kings for $365,000), signed Bartlett, the top wicket-taker in BBL last summer, for $145,000.
Ponting had begun by signing the only one of the three Aussie keepers on the market to be sold.Β
Alex Carey may be Australia's Test wicketkeeper but Inglis has the gloves in the whiteball game and it showed as he went for $475,000.
Carey was next up after Inglis, with a $180,000 base price, but there were no bidders. Another gloveman, Josh Philippe, would later also go unsold.
There were also no bids for Jason Behrendorff, Matt Short and Lance Morris while other Australians who had put themselves forward did not even make the bidding stage.
There is hope, though, for them and for the likes of Warner and Smith as between now and March players will inevitably be injured or, for personal reasons, pull out, creating late vacancies.
The biggest signing of the day was Bhuvneshwar Kumar who joined Royal Challengers Bengaluru for $2 million.
In a separate development Daniel Sams signed for English county Nottinghamshire in the domestic 20-over league.Β
The 32-year-old played for Trent Rockets, who are also based at Trent Bridge, in the 2022 and 2023 Hundred competition.
AUSTRALIANS IN IPL
Chennai Super Kings: Nathan Ellis.
Delhi Capitals: Mitch Starc, Jake Fraser-McGurk.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Spencer Johnson.
Lucknow Super Giants: Justin Langer (coach), Mitch Marsh.
Punjab Kings: Ricky Ponting (coach), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie, Xavier Bartlett.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Josh Hazlewood, Tim David.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Adam Zampa.
None: Gujurat Titans, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals.
