 "Venkatesh Iyer and Liam Livingstone were both costly players who flopped last season. Reuters")
Another Indian Premier League (IPL) auction is around the corner and teams are brainstorming to arrive at the perfect combination of retentions and releases with the deadline to announce retained players set for Saturday, November 15.
The big news ahead of the retention deadline is the trade of Sanju Samson to Chennai Super Kings in exchange of Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran moving to Rajasthan Royals. While still not confirmed, this big trade is in the making and should go through as per reports.
Alongside which player goes where, the other big question is which player goes back to the auction table. Teams that finished in the bottom half will definitely form the bulk of the player pool that will go into the auction while the sides that reached the playoffs will only do minor fine-tuning with their squads.
Check out the likely releases of all 10 teams ahead of the November 15 deadline for announcing retentions.
Chennai Super Kings
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Stephen Fleming will have to do the kind of rebuilding CSK have never done at mega auctions. Ashwin has already retired while Jadeja and Curran are likely to be traded. Underperformers from the last season like Tripathi, Hooda and Shankar alongside few others are expected to be released.
CSK likely releases: Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Deepak Hooda, Urvil Patel, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Vansh Bedi, RK Ghosh, R Ashwin (retired)
Delhi Capitals
Fraser-McGurk and Brook are two sure-shot releases alongside a few other overseas names. T Natarajan played in only a few games last season while Mukesh Kumar blew hot and cold. With both of them costing almost in double digits, DC will look to get rid of one of them.
DC likely releases: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Harry Brook, Mukesh Kumar/T Natarajan, Sediqullah Atal, Dushmantha Chameera, Darshan Nalkande, Manvanth Kumar
Gujarat Titans
Titans looked a solid side last season and are unlikely to make any big changes. A few overseas additions could be axed to free up foreign slots in case they would want to buy a few lower-middle order options.
GT likely releases: Kusal Mendis, Karim Janat, Dasun Shanaka, Kulwant Khejroliya
Kolkata Knight Riders
Venkatesh Iyer is definitely going to auction to free up INR 23.75 crore. However, KKR would look to buy him back. Nortje was also bought for INR 6.5 crore and that release also seems likely. A few other overseas names will also go into the auction. If KKR believe Umran Malik can be fit, they might take a punt on him. Otherwise he will be also released.
KKR likely releases: Venkatesh Iyer, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Moeen Ali, Anrich Nortje, Spencer Johnson, Shivam Shukla, Chetan Sakariya, Umran Malik
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View AllLucknow Super Giants
Pant will have some tough choices to make. Mayank Yadav and Mohsin Khan were two retentions in the team but both of them are injury prone and at least one of them will have to be released. Akash Deep and David Miller are two other names who will go to the auction, as they cost about INR 17 crore combined.
LSG likely releases: David Miller, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Akash Deep, Shardul Thakur, Yuvraj Chaudhary, William O’Rourke, Shamar Joseph, Rajvardhan Hangargekar
Mumbai Indians
MI are unlikely to make big changes. Allah Ghazanfar cost over INR 4 crore last season but could not play and that could be one player under discussions. Otherwise, there will not be many big releases except the replacement players.
MI likely releases: Jonny Bairstow, Charith Asalanka, Richard Gleeson, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, V Satyanarayan
Punjab Kings
It is unlikely that PBKS have entered any IPL auction where they did not have the biggest purse. This year that will change. Glenn Maxwell might be thrown back into the auction while most other names will stay put.
PBKS likely releases: Glenn Maxwell, Vishnu Vinod, Aaron Hardie, Kyle Jamieson, Pravin Dubey
Rajasthan Royals
Samson is definitely going to go. If not to CSK then to auction. The Sri Lankan spin duo of Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana are also likely to be released. However, since Kumar Sangakkara has taken over as coach. One of them might retain his place. A bunch of domestic acquisitions will also be put back into the auction.
RR likely releases: Sanju Samson, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Shubham Dubey, Kumar Kartikeya, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Ashok Sharma
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Liam Livingstone is perhaps the only big name under the scanner for the defending champions. If he is not released, then except a few replacement names, RCB is likely to go in with the same players.
RCB likely releases: Liam Livingstone, Tim Siefert, Mayank Agarwal, Blessing Muzarabani, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee
SunRisers Hyderabad
By the end of the season, SRH’s batting had started to click and the team looked dominant. They would want to give the same squad a chance except maybe a Rahul Chahar who could not find a place in the playing XI last season. Apart from a few tweaks, expect SRH to be largely the same.
SRH likely releases: Rahul Chahar, Jaydev Unadkat, Wiaan Mulder, Sachin Baby, R Smaran