"I went shopping out of anger with Rinku" - Discarded India pacer's massive revelation on reaction to being unsold in IPL 2025 auction

Discarded India pacer Shivam Mavi has opened up about the disappointment of going unsold in the IPL 2025 mega auction. While playing in domestic competitions at the time, the Uttar Pradesh seamer admitted feeling frustrated and angry. To cope with his emotions, he went shopping with teammate Rinku Singh, buying items impulsively.

The 27-year-old shared this on Sunday, December 14, during an interview with The Times of India, saying:

“Immediately after that (auction), there was a match. The match was on the same day, and then the next day I was angry and a bit disturbed. In that state, I went shopping out of anger with Rinku. I kept buying whatever I felt like, saying, ‘I want this, I want that,’ and just kept picking things up. Then, when I played the match the day after that, it was difficult mentally. It crossed my mind once, but then I honestly thought about how I could play the entire season regularly and how I could keep myself fit. I shifted my focus to that, and then moved forward.”

The UP cricketer also revealed that he was expecting to be sold for at least his base price of ₹75 lakh, but going unsold hurt him. He later learned that it happened due to his history of recurring injuries. He shared:

“Actually, it does hurt. It wasn’t that I was thinking about the money, but I did expect to get picked. When I saw my number, it was quite low, so I thought that by that time I probably wouldn’t get much and might get sold at my base price, 75 lakhs. But when I went unsold the first time, and then again the second time when they announced it, that really felt very bad.”

“At that time, I think I had already played about a month to a month and a half of cricket. There were a few Ranji Trophy matches, and after that two or three T20 games before the auction. I was performing well consistently, but later, when I found out why things happened the way they did, I was told that there was no problem with my skill. The issue was the back-to-back injuries. In a franchise’s mind, they think that if a player has been injured, how will he manage to play all 14 matches for us?” he added.

Mavi has played 32 IPL games, all for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and has claimed 30 wickets.

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“I am confident” - Shivam Mavi on finding bidders during the IPL 2026 auction

In the same interaction, Shivam Mavi expressed confidence about attracting bidders in the IPL 2026 auction, scheduled for Tuesday, December 16, in Abu Dhabi. He shared:

“Yes, I am confident (about getting a team in auction). As I was telling you earlier, the injuries I had were action-related. Injuries are injuries, but a franchise wants to know who can play all 14 matches for them and who will be available for every game. That’s exactly what I worked on. If I can keep myself fit, only then will others have confidence in me. They will understand it because they are investing money in me. When I can give them the confidence that yes, I am fit and I am playing all the matches, it makes a difference.”

“You can see that I played the entire season last year as well. I missed the first two Ranji Trophy matches because I wasn’t ready to bowl that many overs. Before that, I had injuries because I had played a league and was ready for T20s, and then Ranji Trophy came immediately after, so I missed two matches,” he added.

Shivam Mavi added:

“But after that, once I built up my workload and came back into domestic cricket, I played the entire season. This season as well, I’ve played all the T20 matches, then the Ranji Trophy, and whatever I’ve been playing since. That’s the point. When you play a full domestic season, franchises look at how much domestic cricket you’ve played and how you’ve performed across formats. Playing longer formats also shows your fitness.”

The 27-year-old is in Set 4 of the auction, with a base price of ₹75 lakh.