The franchises in the Indian Premier League have made big statements ahead of the IPL 2021 season through their player retaining and releasing policies. There have been some shockers and some obvious decisions made by the franchises. Let’s look at the complete list of players retained and released by franchises.
Released players:
After a disappointing performance in the 2020 season, everyone expected CSK to make drastic changes in their squads. And as expected, the franchise has released Harbhajan Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Murali Vijay, and Piyush Chawla. Shane Watson has taken retirement so he won’t be available. Monu Kumar Singh is released as well.
Players retained:
The major news is the retention of senior player Suresh Raina. The other players retained by CSK are MS Dhoni, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Sam Curran, N Jagadeeshan, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Lungi Ngidi, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Shardul Thakur, Josh Hazlewood, R Sai Kishore.
The runners-up of 2020 IPL repead benefits of trusting a young core and giving responsibility to senior players. They have continued with the same policy for retention and releasing of players.
Released players:
Delhi has plenty of options for openers and spin bowlers. So they have released Jason Roy and Sandeep Lamichhane. They have also released pace bowler Mohit Sharma, Keemo Paul, and wicket-keeper Alex Carey while overseas pacer Daniel Sams and Indian pacer Harshal Patel are traded to RCB.
Players retained:
Shreyas Iyer (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Prithvi Shaw, R Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Lalit Yadav, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Anrich Nortje.
Kings XI Punjab had a galaxy of T20 superstars, yet they failed to make an impact in the last season. Hence, the management’s priority is to get the balance right and have the right players for the right situations.
Released players:
The franchise has decided to part ways with Glenn Maxwell who came under the scanner for his below-par performances. Windies pacer Sheldon Cottrell and all-rounder J Neesham are released as well. Interestingly spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Krishnappa Gowtham are also released along with Hardus Viljoen.
Players retained:
Rahul, Gayle, Pooran, Shami, Jordan, Mandy, Mayank, Bishnoi, Prabhsimran, Hooda, Sarfaraz, Arshdeep, M Ashwin, Nalkande, Porel & Harpreet
KKR hasn’t got their man-management correct in the last couple of seasons. The franchise however has released any heavyweights and will persist with the same core.
Released players:
Tom Banton, the high-profile England batter is released. This could massive decision for the franchise. Indian players including, M Siddharth, Nikhil Naik, Siddhesh Lad are released along with overseas player Chris Green.
Players retained:
Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan (c), Pat Cummins, Rahul Tripathi, Tom Banton, Varun Chakravarthy
The current champions have few chinks in the armor. Hence, they don’t have massive overhauls. However, interestingly they have decided to revamp their pace bowling department.
Released players:
Their most successful pacer Lasith Malinga is being released along with Mitchell Mcclenaghan who played a prominent role in the team for a few seasons. James Pattinson and Nathan Coulter-Nile, the pace duo who assisted the pace spearheads are released as well.
Players retained:
Rohit Sharma, Surya Kumar Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Sourabh Tiwary, Chris Lynn, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Sherfane Rutherford, P Balwant Rai, Ishan Kishan, Aditya Tare, Quinton de Kock, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar, Digvijay Deshmukh, Mohsin Khan, Dhawal Kulkarni, Trent Boult, Jayant Yadav
Rajasthan Royals had an unbalanced unit in the last season. They had some match-winners who delivered sensational performances but the franchises failed to have the supporting actors who could deliver the finishing touches. Instead of filling the gaping holes, the franchise has decided to go for a complete change in leadership roles.
Released players:
Royals have provided the biggest headline by releasing Steve Smith. A major chunk of pace battery is released in the form of Ankit Rajpoot, Oshane Thomas, Varun Aaron and Tom Curran They have also released Anirudha Joshi, Shashank Singh and Akash Singh.
Players retained:
Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Kartik Tyagi, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Robin Uthappa
RCB, probably has tried all strategies yet success has eluded them. This time, they have once again gone for a complete makeover by releasing plenty of big names.
Released players:
Shivam Dube, whose big-hitting and all-round abilities made a T20 sensation is released despite being in good form in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. All-rounder Chris Morris is released. RCB has also released international star Aaron Finch and Sri-Lankan all-rounder I Udana. Indian players Pawan Negi and Umesh Yadav are released too.
Players retained:
V Kohli, AB de Villiers, D Padikkal, Y Chahal, M Siraj, K Richardson, W Sundar, P Deshpande, J Philippe, S Ahmad, N Saini, A Zampa
Sunrisers Hyderbad have always been very smart with their releasing and retaining policies. This time too, they have made interesting moves.
Released players:
Fabian Allen and Billy Stanlake who didn’t get a lot of game time are released alsong with Indian players Sanjay Yadav, B Sandeep and Prithvi Raj.
Players retained:
David Warner (c), Abhishek Sharma, Basil Thampi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem, Shreevats Goswami, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman Saha, Abdul Samad, Mitchell Marsh, Priyam Garg, Virat Singh
For more cricket news, click here.