Officially, the first delivery of the sixteenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be bowled four months later. However, the competition has already started, as think tanks of the ten franchises have submitted the list of retained players, ahead of 23 December’s auction.
Out of 248 players who managed to find an employer in last season’s auction, 85 saw their services getting terminated prematurely, as teams freed up funds to go gung-ho on some renowned T20 players, who will go under the hammer in a month’s time.
In this article, we will take a look at five surprising releases by the team:
1. Kane Williamson
Kane Williamson had a poor run in IPL 2022 – arguably his worst in five years, He scored 216 runs at an average of 19.64 and a strike rate of 93.51. Considering these numbers, coupled with his humongous price tag of INR 14 crores, makes the decision of letting him go look sensible.
However, this decision could come back to haunt Sunrisers Hyderabad in the next few years, for a few specific reasons.
Firstly, barring his numbers in IPL 2022, Williamson has performed quite well in this competition and had an average in excess of 40 in both IPL 2020 and 2021.
To add to that, Williamson is also a tried-and-tested captain, and history will show that recognised leaders usually sell for a premium at any IPL auction. Under his leadership, the Sunrisers made it to the playoffs of IPL 2019, despite not having a particularly phenomenal squad. Williamson has also been successful as the captain of the New Zealand team.
2. Dwayne Bravo
Dwayne Bravo joined Chennai Super Kings over a decade ago, and while he has also represented Mumbai Indians and the defunct Gujarat Lions, the Caribbean all-rounder has spent the best days of his career donning a yellow jersey. However, he might be sporting a different shade next year, having been released by the four-time champions.
On paper, Bravo is 39 years old, which might be a justification for not retaining him. However, Bravo is one of those cricketers who have corroborated the ‘age is just a number’ phrase time and again.
Even in the last edition of the competition, where most of CSK’s squad had an underwhelming campaign, Bravo was on the money.
The ‘DJ’ was the joint-highest wicket-taker of the team, having scalped 16 wickets at an impressive bowling average of 18.69. Given that Bravo had cost the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team only INR 4.4 crores, the decision of letting him go has sparked a debate.
3. Jason Holder
Bravo was not the only Caribbean all-rounder to have been released on 15 November, as his compatriot, Jason Holder also met the same fate. The Barbados-born utility cricketer was released by Lucknow Super Giants ahead of the mini-auction.
Unlike Bravo, Holder was a really expensive signing, having been bought for INR 8.75 crores last season. Hence, releasing him allows the KL Rahul-led team to address multiple weaknesses, but replacing the all-rounder will still be a major challenge.
The former West Indies captain picked up 14 wickets in IPL 2022, with Avesh Khan being the only Lucknow bowler to pick up more wickets. While he might not have proved it last season, Holder is also a pretty hander batter.
4. Mayank Agarwal
A lot can change in a couple of years, and unfortunately, Mayank Agarwal had to learn it the hard way. The elegant batter had an exemplary IPL 2021 season, where he scored 441 runs at an average in excess of 40 and a strike rate in excess of 140.
Owing to his impressive numbers, Punjab Kings not only retained him for IPL 2022, but also made him the captain of the team. However, things went downhill last year, as Agarwal could only accumulate 196 runs at an average of 16.33.
Like Williamson, he was on an INR 14-crore-per-season contract, which PBKS have managed to free up by releasing him. However, statistics will show that Agarwal has been one of the most consistent batters in IPL since 2019, if only we keep the last edition out of the equation.
Moreover, the Kings do not have a host of experienced Indian batters in their rank. While the newly appointed skipper, Shikhar Dhawan is a veteran in this competition, the likes of Prabhsimran Singh, Shahrukh Khan and Jitesh Sharma are all inexperienced, which makes it imperative for PBKS to buy an experienced Indian batter in the auction.
5. Murugan Ashwin
Our last mention might be, purely in terms of stature, not as big a name as the likes of Kane Williamson and Dwayne Bravo, but the decision to release him certainly leaves room for questions. Ahead of the IPL 2023 auction, Mumbai Indians decided to part ways with Murugan Ashwin.
The decision is surprising, not from one specific perspective, but three. Firstly, Ashwin was MI’s most successful spinner last season, picking up 9 wickets at an economy rate of only 7.86 runs per over. He was also not an expensive buy – costing the team only INR 1.60 crores.
Topping it all off is MI’s list of released players, which features another leg-spinner in Mayank Markande. Releasing two Indian leg-spinners, particularly when there are not many options from this specific category available in the market, might prove to be a tad too risky if the team does not sign a worthy replacement.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)