Game of Dollars: The casualty of being a celebrity cricketer and fall in personal brand status

Several stars go unpicked as they were victims of numbers and some of them on recent performances.

Yuvraj Singh and Chris Gayle swagger onto the field and arrest the fans’ attention every time they step onto the field. They have set stadiums on fire for 18 years, but, at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction held today, Yuvraj got picked at base price, and Chris Gayle was not sold on the first day. In fact, Gayle entertained millions for four years and was a top-dollar spend. Sources say he made close to $20 million in his IPL career.

But the business of cricket is all about numbers, figures and averages, and Gayle has not done well in the last three years. IPL, which harnesses top-notch data analytics and strategy, will be trying to bring down the big West Indian’s asking price. Similarly, there were several other star players who did not get picked even though their historic averages are phenomenal.

Shane Watson who had an annual salary of $1 million (Rs 6.7 crore) was auctioned off for Rs 4 crore. Gobal stars like Joe Root, , even though they gave stellar performances for their country, went unsold.

What is perhaps the biggest let down was Gautam Gambhir being let go of by Kolkata Knight Riders. The talent batsmen who once commanded large contracts, has been Rs 2.2 crore to play for the Delhi franchise. He, however, told television channels that he is very happy to be playing for his hometown.

Other big names that were a no-show include Glen Maxwell, the Australian batsman. Maxwell had brought Kings XI to the finals three years ago, but in two years his performance waned. So he was picked by Delhi a little over the base price. Star ODI batsmen from New Zealand Martin Guptill was not picked too.

Crowd-entertainer Harbhajan Singh, who thrilled the world with his off-spins and made millions, got picked at the base price.