REASONS BEHIND RELEASING MAJOR PLAYERS BY IPL FRANCHISES REVEALED

Ahead of IPL 2020 auction on December 19, all the IPL franchises released players who were once considered to be major factors for their teams. Surprisingly, Kings XI Punjab traded Ravichandran Ashwin to Delhi Capitals. Not just Punjab but also other IPL teams also released some of the significant players.

Chennai Super Kings released Sam Billings in addition to 4 other players and Hyderabad let Yousuf Pathan go while all-rounder Shakib-Al-Hassan should be released compulsorily due to his ban. Kolkata Knight Riders released Robin Uthappa who was the vice-captain for the team. It was said that Uthappa was released due to his bad performance but eyebrows raised when the in-form player Chris Lynn was also released. KKR also released Piyush Chawla who contributed to the team with his lethal leg spin deliveries during important times.

Royal Challengers Bangalore released one of the deadly bowlers in the world, Dale Steyn, while Punjab sent David Miller out of the team. Ajinkiya Rahane who was the vice-captain of Rajasthan Royals was released by the RR management along with Jayadev Unadkat who was bought for the most expensive price.

Mumbai Indians released Rahul Tripathi,  Yuvraj Singh and Alzarri Joseph from the squad. It has to be mentioned that Alzarri Joseph remained to be the key bowler for MI. Therefore all the IPL franchise the players who were either bought for a higher price or contributed to their teams in some way were released. Reportedly, the major reasons for the release are to free-up the auction money of IPL franchises, strengthen the teams with young players and form new strategies in the upcoming IPL 2020 tournament.

The release of the players ahead of the auction is considered to be key factors for teams such as Delhi, Punjab and RCB who have never won an IPL trophy.