Shardul Thakur sent down the joint-most expensive spell in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history, days after surprisingly going unsold in the IPL 2025 auction.
Thakur, who has played for five IPL teams, and has taken 94 wickets in the competition, did not find any takers for his base price of INR 2 crore, the highest a player can set ahead of the auction.
Unwanted record for unsold Thakur
His non-sale was one of the biggest talking points from a record-breaking auction, with Indian fast-bowling all-rounders especially in high demand, that too those of Thakur's experience.
To make matters worse, Thakur had a rather forgettable outing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match between Mumbai and Kerala, three days after being passed on in the auction. Thakur, opening the bowling for Mumbai, finished with 4-0-69-1, the joint-worst figures in the history of the competition.
The whopping economy rate of 17.25 put the spell as the worst-ever bowled by him in his 162-match T20 career, and the fourth time he had gone at a rate of 15 in matches he's bowled at least one full over.
Is this the best XI of unsold players from the 2025 IPL auction? 🇮🇳🏆
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) November 28, 2024
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Thakur's now tied with Ramesh Rahul at that top of SMAT's worst-ever spells. Incidentally, Rahul's figures came just four days ago for Arunachal Pradesh against Haryana.
Before this, Thakur's worst in the competition was 4-0-51-0, back in 2015.
Chasing 235, Thakur could do little with the bat too, managing 3(4) from No.8.
Worst figures in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history
| Player | Overs | Mdns | Runs conceded | Wkts | Econ | Year |
| R Rahul (Arunachal Pradesh) | 4 | 0 | 69 | 0 | 17.25 | 2024 |
| Shardul Thakur (Mumbai) | 4 | 0 | 69 | 1 | 17.25 | 2024 |
| PKKK Naidu (Hyderabad) | 4 | 0 | 67 | 1 | 16.75 | 2010 |
| B Akhil (Karnataka) | 4 | 0 | 67 | 1 | 16.75 | 2010 |
| L Tehi (Arunachal Pradesh) | 4 | 0 | 67 | 0 | 16.75 | 2019 |
| MH Reddy (Andhra) | 4 | 0 | 66 | 0 | 16.5 | 2023 |
| Yab Niya (Arunachal Pradesh) | 4 | 0 | 64 | 1 | 16 | 2023 |
| RR Raje (Mumbai) | 4 | 0 | 63 | 1 | 15.75 | 2017 |
| Mukesh Kumar (Bengal) | 4 | 0 | 63 | 1 | 15.75 | 2018 |
| DD Gaonkar (Goa) | 4 | 0 | 63 | 0 | 15.75 | 2021 |
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