IPL 2019 auctions: 5 Released players Kings XI Punjab should target at the auction

The Indian Premier League will be entering its 12th season next year and the deadline for the franchises to retain and release players for IPL 2019 season ended on November 15, 2018.

Adhering to the guidelines, all franchises submitted their lists of retained and released players to the governing council on said date, which was later made official by them.

As per details, a total of 130 players including 44 overseas were retained by their respective teams. While around 69 players have been released by the franchises, we will see their names back in auction pool in search for another home.

With IPL 2019 auction set to be held in few days, the fans and followers are eagerly waiting to know the combinations of their favorite teams. On Thursday, Kings XI Punjab too revealed their list of nine retained players.

These are Lokesh Rahul, Chris Gayle, Andrew Tye, Mayank Agarwal, Ankit Rajpoot, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Karun Nair, David Miller and Ravichandran Ashwin.

While ten players that have been released by the franchisee are Ben Dwarshuis, Mohit Sharma, Barinder Sran, Manoj Tiwary, Manzoor Dar, Yuvraj Singh, Axar Patel, Aaron Finch, Akshdeep Nath and Mayank Dagar.

IPL 2018 was a season to forget for the Kings as nothing went their way in the second half of the tournament.

Leaving behind the failures of season 11, the team will look forward to performing better in the upcoming season.

Opener KL Rahul's presence is a big plus in the batting lineup. Rahul had played an important role in the 2018 edition for the franchisee and will be expected to continue in the same way. While Andrew Tye will once again be the major threat for the opponents.

After the end of player retention process on Thursday, November 15; Kings XI Punjab have retained the least number of players and have the biggest salary cap available for auctions at Rs 36.20 Crores, which in return will give them enough options to lay down on auction table.

So, without much ado, let's have a look on five released players Kings XI Punjab should get in the auction

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#5 JP Duminy

Duminy was released by Mumbai Indians

South African middle order batsman Jean Paul Duminy can be a worthy option to be considered by the KXIP Management.

The South African had a tough season in IPL 2018, where he managed just 36 runs in his six outings.

Duminy was underutilized during his stint for Mumbai. In his six outings, he remained unbeaten on three occasions. Despite this, he finds himself in the list of players released by the franchisee.

The Proteas batsman has 6,000 T20 runs under his belt and is one of most reliable players in the middle order.

Duminy possesses a decent strike rate of 121.80, and he can be a disaster for the bowlers on his day.

Meanwhile in his five T20I outings for South Africa this year, he scored 158 runs at an impressive average of 52.66, while remaining unbeaten on two occasions. This makes him man to bid for during the auctions.

#4 Wriddhiman Saha

Wriddhiman Saha was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad

Saha's release order from Sunrisers Hyderabad is no less than a surprise for their fans. The Wicketkeeper-batsman suffered a shoulder injury during the second Qualifier against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Thereafter, he missed India's Tests against Afghanistan and England. The wicket-keeper batsman is expected to make competitive cricket return in December.

After back to back impressive outings in three IPL seasons, Saha failed to continue his momentum in 2018 season as he managed just 122 runs in ten innings before getting injured.

In his IPL career till now, Saha managed to pick 1,679 runs at an average of 24.33, with his best performance being 115.

The batsman has been one of most consistent middle order batsmen in the tournament's history and his wicket-keeping abilities will give the management an additional option in this department.

#3 Saurabh Tiwary

Saubabh

Despite some good starts in IPL 2018 matches, KXIP failed to post big totals due to their middle order chinks and Saurabh Tiwary could be one of the options Kings XI Punjab can look into to fill that gap in IPL 2019.

Tiwary is one of few underrated batsmen in the circuit but with his clean strike ability, he can thrash any opposition single-handedly.

Last year, the Jamshedpur batsman was selected by Mumbai Indians, but didn't get any chance to show his skills in a star-studded lineup and remained unutilized throughout the tournament.

Tiwary has been a go-to batsman in the T20 format and can prove to be an ideal option. Tiwary possesses a T20 average of 29.34 and has scored 2582 runs in 118 innings at a decent strike rate of 121.62.

With Punjab batting being overly dependent on services of KL Rahul and Chris Gayle, the inclusion of Tiwary might give them an additional option to figure out the middle order chinks.

#2 Carlos Brathwaite

Carlos Brathwaite has been a surprise exclusion by Sunrisers Hyderabad

Carlos Brathwaite is one of those players who has been released by Sunrisers Hyderabad and finds himself back into the auction pool.

He is yet another surprise exclusion by Hyderabad and has been released despite performing well.

The Carribean all-rounder picked up 5 wickets and scored 75 runs in the four matches he played in the 2018 edition.

With the brilliant ability of bowling in the death, he can clear the boundary with relative ease as well, which makes him a dangerous man in both zones.

Kings XI Punjab remained overly dependent on Andrew Tye for death bowling and lacked a pacer who is equally capable to support him.

Though the Afghan spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman is also a dangerous man in the bowling department, the lack of a second quality pacer somehow affected their proceedings.

So, Braithwaite might be the ideal option to be the team's finisher with the ball.

#1 Daniel Christian

BBL Semi Final - Scorchers v Hurricanes

Dan Christian was a part of the Delhi Daredevils squad last year and now finds himself in the list of released players.

The all-rounder featured in just four fixtures for the Daredevils and took four wickets.

Christian is currently in a purple patch, which can be proved by the fact that the all-rounder was among the leading run scorers in the recently concluded T20 Blast with 415 runs.

Meanwhile, in his 26 T20 outings, Christian amassed 624 runs at a decent average of 34.66 and posses an incredible strike rate of 162.92, which are enough to prove his credentials.

He is an explosive middle-order batsman and has the ability to bowl effectively in the middle overs. With Axar Patel being released from the squad, the Aussie seems to be a perfect option to fill his vacant boots.

So, having Christian in the ranks might be the best option for Punjab to address their woes.