3 teams who might pick Yuvraj Singh in the IPL 2019 auction

Just a couple of weeks ago, each IPL team released a list of players to be retained and released for the 2019 season.

There were a few big names who were released, one of them being Kings XI Punjab's Yuvraj Singh. It was not a huge surprise that he was released, given his form in last year's IPL and the fact that he hasn't played much cricket since.

He played 8 matches last season for KXIP where he scored just 65 runs at an average of 10.83.

However, the match-winner that he is, we can surely expect one of the franchises to bid on him in the upcoming auction.

In this article, we take a look at 3 franchises who might acquire the services of the veteran Indian all-rounder:

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#3 Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have had a couple of seasons to forget. In 2017, they finished at the bottom of the table whereas this year, they performed a bit better but were unable to qualify for the playoffs, finishing at sixth on the table.

They released quite a few players this season, including the likes of Quinton de Kock, Brendon McCullum, and Mandeep Singh. They did acquire the services of Marcus Stoinis from KXIP in place of Mandeep.

With Kohli, Parthiv Patel, and AB de Villiers at the top of the order, RCB need some stability in the middle-order, which Yuvraj could provide. The likes of Stoinis, Moeen Ali and Colin de Grandhomme can make a huge difference with the bat but they can be quite inconsistent too. In addition, they might not be available for the entire tournament due to the World Cup in May.

RCB could look at buying Yuvraj and using him at the no. 4 positions to stabilise the innings in case of a top-order collapse.

Squad: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Colin de Grandhomme, Parthiv Patel, Pawan Negi, Kulwant Khejroliya, Moeen Ali, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Tim Southee, Washington Sundar, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Marcus Stoinis.

#2 Sunrisers Hyderabad

The Sunrisers Hyderabad were one of the best teams last season. They finished on top of the table but then went on to lose to the Chennai Super Kings in the final.

This season, the biggest name they released was Shikhar Dhawan. They also released Alex Hales and Carlos Brathwaite.

While they look for an opener to replace Dhawan, they might also look for someone in the middle-order. They do have Manish Pandey, who will start for sure. Apart from him are players like Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar, and Yusuf Pathan.

While Shankar might be used lower down the order, Hooda and Pathan have been quite inconsistent over the past couple of years. A dip in performance from them could leave a hole in the side, which could be filled by someone like Yuvraj.

They have Nabi and Shakib al Hasan too, but given that Warner, Williamson, and Rashid would be in the playing XI for sure, only one of the two would get to play. Hence, Yuvraj could be a worthy addition at no. 5.

Squad: Basil Thampi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Hooda, Manish Pandey, Natarajan, Ricky Bhui, Sandeep Sharma, Shreevats Goswami, Siddarth Kaul, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Yusuf Pathan, Billy Stanlake, David Warner, Kane Williamson, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, and Shakib Al-Hasan, Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem, Abhishek Sharma.

#1 Delhi Daredevils

The Delhi Daredevils had an extremely poor season last time around as they finished at the bottom of the table. This season, they released a few big names like Gautam Gambhir and Glenn Maxwell from the squad.

They have a solid top four right now, with Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, and Rishabh Pant. However, after that, there are no noticeable names in the squad. Colin Munro is there but since he is predominantly an opener, it is highly unlikely that he would play lower down the order. Chris Morris is present in the squad as well but he cannot always be trusted with the bat, especially in the middle-order. He is more of a finisher.

With the addition of Yuvraj in their squad, he could play at no. 5 and provide some stability in case the top four fail.

Squad: Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, Manjot Kalra, Colin Munro, Chris Morris, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Harshal Patel, Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult, Sandeep Lamichhane, Avesh Khan.