IPL auction 2023: Scot Styris picks “worst buy” of the auction; Sandeep Sharma “heartbroken” after going unsold

Scott Styris, a former cricketer from New Zealand, has named South African wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen as the worst player purchased at the IPL 2023 auction.

Styris made this comment while appearing on JioCinema, citing the large amount of money that Sunrisers Hyderabad paid to acquire Klaasen’s services (Rs. 5.25 crores). Styris said that the Sunrisers’ management would be forced to include the South African wicket-keeper batsman in the first XI after paying him a lot of money.

SRH already have Harry Brook, Aiden Markram and Glenn Phillips in the batting department but doesn’t have a recognized keeper in the squad, which might force them to play Klaasen.

Klaasen first joined the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2018, when he was signed by the Rajasthan Royals to replace Steve Smith. The following year, he was purchased by Royal Challengers Bangalore but was released by the team later that same year.

For the next three seasons, no franchise chose to buy Klaasen’s services. In total, he has played seven matches in the IPL, scoring 66 runs at an average of 13.20 and a strike rate of 115.79.

“I’m shocked and disappointed” – Sandeep Sharma after IPL auction

“I’m shocked and disappointed,” a disheartened Sandeep Sharma told Cricket.com. “I don’t know why I went unsold. I’ve done well whichever team I had played for and genuinely thought some team would bid for me. To be honest, I was not expecting this. Don’t even know where it has gone wrong. In domestic cricket, I have been performing well. In the Ranji Trophy, last round, I took seven wickets. I did so well in Syed Mushtaq Ali.”

A day prior to the auction, Sandeep Sharma took a 7-wicket haul for Chandigarh against Madhya Pradesh but still went unsold. Sandeep can be considered as one of the greats of the IPL as he picked up 114 wickets at 26.33 conceding at 7.77.