New Delhi, Dec. 18 -- Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra expressed surprise at New Zealand all-rounder Michael Bracewell and England's fiery wicketkeeper-batters Jamie Smith and Jonny Bairstow not finding any takers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction.

During the IPL auction, headlines were made with Aussie all-rounder Cameron Green going to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for Rs 25.20 crores and domestic talents like Aquib Nabi (to Delhi Capitals), Prashant Veer and Karthik Sharma (to Chennai Super Kings) and Mangesh Yadav (to Royal Challengers Bengaluru) getting their domestic/state league cricket grind rewarded with massive paydays, but it did have some surprises in form of players like Bracewell, Jamie and Bairstow going u...