The IPL auction has reshaped how cricketing value is measured, often rewarding skill sets that suit pressure, pace and adaptability. Yet some of the game’s most marketable legends retired before the league began.
Here’s a look at a handful of past greats whose profiles suggest they would have been premium picks in an IPL auction era.
Garfield Sobers (West Indies)
Garfield Sobers’ range of skills would have translated seamlessly to the shortest format. The Barbadian all-rounder paired elegant left-handed batting with the rare ability to take wickets both as a medium-pacer and a spinner, a versatility tailor-made for franchise cricket. He also etched his place in limited-overs folklore by becoming the first player to hit six sixes in an over, a feat achieved against Malcolm Nash for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan at Swansea in 1968.
Kapil Dev (India)
There is little evidence to suggest Kapil Dev would not have thrived in the IPL era. The architect of India’s 1983 World Cup triumph, Kapil combined clean, powerful ball-striking with a knack for taking wickets across phases. His leadership credentials were beyond question, and his value extended deep into the lower order. He held the record for the highest ODI score from No. 5 or below until Glenn Maxwell eclipsed it with a double century at the 2023 World Cup.
Lance Klusener (South Africa)
Lance Klusener was among the earliest specialists in the art of finishing, building a reputation for extracting maximum value from brief stays at the crease for South Africa. His defining run came at the 1999 World Cup, where he was named Player of the Tournament after scoring 281 runs at a strike rate of 122.17, a figure unmatched among the top 15 run-getters, while also claiming 17 wickets with the ball.
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Stuart Broad (England)
Stuart Broad’s T20 reputation is often reduced to the night Yuvraj Singh struck six sixes off him, but that single over obscures a far fuller record. Broad was a reliable short-format operator for England despite never playing in the IPL, finishing his T20I career with 65 wickets, the third-most for his country. He also led England at the 2014 T20 World Cup.
Broad did come close to an IPL debut, signing with Kings XI Punjab in 2011, but injury intervened and the opportunity never materialised, leaving his IPL career as one that existed only on paper.
Brian Lara (West Indies)
By the time Brian Lara entered his name for the 2011 IPL auction, he had been largely inactive for close to three years. At 41, his exposure to T20 cricket amounted to just three matches in Zimbabwe’s domestic circuit the previous year, part of a tentative comeback rather than a full-fledged return. The auction room, however, was unmoved. Lara went unsold, never joining the small group of players who had featured in both the Indian Cricket League and the IPL.
Published on Dec 16, 2025
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