Reports: Dale Steyn, Yuvraj Singh among big names set to be released by IPL franchises

Dale Steyn picked up 3 wickets in IPL 2015

With some top performers of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals being available for the player auction for the 2016 IPL, the other six teams too are set to release some high-profile players into the pool on whom bidding will be done in the auction. The auction will be held in Bangalore on 6th February.

Dale Steyn faces the axe from Sunrisers Hyderabad. He might still be considered the best international bowler, but in the IPL last year he could take only three wickets in six games at an unflattering average of 66.66 and a profligate strike rate of 38. Trent Boult replaced Steyn as the preferred foreign fast bowler in the later parts of the campaign.

Also, Steyn costs the Hyderabad franchise Rs. 9.5 crores, while Trent Boult had only come for Rs. 3.8 crores. It is quite clear that Sunrisers will release Steyn, and get some more value into their team with the money acquired. Steyn might be picked up by one of the teams, but there are some who do not stand much of a chance of continuing their IPL career this year.

The other international player to be facing a disgrace is Kings XI Punjab captain George Bailey. A respected figure, the Australian had managed only 259 from 13 games last year, while the team’s fortunes had plummetted under his leadership.

KXIP can recover Rs 3.25 crores by putting Bailey into the auction, and it could be tough for the T20 specialist to find a new franchise to go to.

KXIP, who had finished at last spot in 2015, are aiming to revamp their whole squad. Mumbai Mirror sources have revealed that the Punjab team will go on to release players like Beuran Hendricks (bought for Rs 1.8 crore), Thishara Perera (Rs 1.6 crores), Parvinder Awana (Rs 65 lakhs) and Shivam Sharma (Rs 10 lakh) as well.

Among the big-money India players who will be released by their teams are Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthik. Yuvraj had been bought by Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 16 crore, while Dinesh Karthik had gone to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 12.5 crores.

Neither Yuvraj nor Karthik had been able to live up to their billing, and will probably be picked up by one of the other franchises this year at a decreased rate.

Yuvraj managed to make 248 from 14 games at an average of 19 while Karthik had a pitiable season, having scored just 141 runs from 16 games