Monday 5 February 2018 10:06, UK
England captains Joe Root and Eoin Morgan will miss the 2018 Indian Premier League after going unsold in the tournament's auction.
Root entered the IPL auction for the first time in his career, having been rested from the upcoming tri-series in Australia and New Zealand, but failed to attract any bids on Saturday and did not get chosen to return to the second round of bidding on Sunday.
England limited-overs captain Morgan has previously played for Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab but this will be the first time he has not featured since entering the auction in 2010.
Alex Hales also received no bids, despite being the eighth-ranked T20 batsman by the ICC's, while fast bowler Tymal Mills, the second most expensive player in 2017, was unsold along with wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, all-rounder David Willey and Middlesex bowler Tom Helm.
But there was better news for Chris Jordan as he was re-signed by the Sunrisers for £110,100, and in the second round of bidding seamer Mark Wood (£165,500) and new Kent captain Sam Billings (£70,600) were picked up by the Chennai Super Kings.
Chris Gayle also secured a contract at the third attempt as he was signed by Kings XI Punjab for £220,200.
Ben Stokes was the most-expensive buy of the auction as Rajasthan Royals paid £1.4m for the all-rounder, and the Royals spent big again to sign Indian fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat for £1.27m.
Stokes and Unadkat played alongside each other in last year's competition as they helped Rising Pune Supergiant reach the final, where they were runners-up to Mumbai Indians.
Australian bowler AJ Tye, who took a five-wicket haul in Sunday's fifth one-day international against England, earned a million dollar contract as Kings XI Punjab picked him up.
Afghanistan's 17-year-old spinner Mujeeb Zadran - who has starred in the Under-19 World Cup - was bought by KXIP for close to £441,000, while Sandeep Lamichhane became the first player from Nepal to be bought by an IPL side, as he joined Delhi for £21,900.
Lungi Ngidi, who took 6-39 against India in his first ever Test and claimed 4-19 against Sri Lanka in only his second T20I, was bought by Chennai Super Kings for £55,000.
The ICC's No 1 ranked T20I bowler Ish Sodhi, South African fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, Sri Lankan seamer Lasith Malinga and Australian spinner Nathan Lyon all missed out on contracts.
However, should any player suffer an injury during the tournament, teams will be able to purchase unsold players at a later date.
Sky Sports has signed a new multi-year deal to broadcast 60 live IPL matches each year and this year's tournament gets underway on April 7.
