5 expensive cricketers who can be released to be bought back in IPL auction

The auction of Indian Premier League 2019 is around the corner and the exhilaration and enthusiasm for knowing the list of retained and released players by the franchises are increasing by leaps and bounds among the fans.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has introduced an off-season trading window for the first time in the history of IPL in which teams are allowed to swap and trade players even before the auctions. Specific teams have already tried their hands in the trading window whilst some teams are still quiet and haven't shown much interest in the trading window.

There are certain teams who bought some few players at huge amounts in the last season but unfortunately, the players turned out to be big upsets. Those franchises would like to get back the money in their purse by releasing those players and perhaps bringing them back at a lesser sum.

In the following slides, we will have a look at the 5 expensive cricketers who can be released now & can be bought back cheaply in IPL auction:

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#1 Ravichandran Ashwin ( 7.6 cr ) - KXIP

Kings XI Punjab's campaign in the previous season of Indian Premier League was no less than a rollercoaster ride. The star-studded line-up had a scintillating start in the first half of the tournament largely due to an inspiring team effort but the team lost their way amidst the tournament and eventually ended up on the 7th rank by the end of the league.

Before the IPL 2018 auctions, Kings XI had retained just one player in the form of Axar Patel. The team bought the likes of KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, and Karun Nair to strengthen its batting line-up whilst the bowling department of boosted up by Andre Tye's inclusion.

The team then required someone who can perform the captaincy duties for which they bought Ravichandran Ashwin at a hefty amount of 7.6 crores in the auctions. The ace spinner performed the role of captaincy brilliantly in the first 7 matches of the tournament but as mentioned above, he seemed to lose the momentum in the second half of the tournament.

At the same time, Ravi Ashwin's form in while ball cricket is disappearing with time. The KXIP captain is no more the part of India's limited overs side and is unlikely to be picked in near future. Thus, it is a bit expensive for Punjab to retain the Tamil Nadu born cricketer at such a big amount and it will be better for them to rather let him go, now, and pick him for a cheaper price in the IPL auctions 2019.

#2 Glenn Maxwell (9 cr) - DD

Delhi Daredevils are the IPL franchise which consistently performs in an inconsistent way in IPL. The team ended up with a wooden prize in the Indian Premier League for yet another time last year. The Delhi-based franchise could only win 5 out of 14 matches in the league.

There were high hopes from the team before the start of last season as the local boy Gautam Gambhir was returning to the team after a long wait. The franchise had a star-studded line-up which consisted the likes of Rishab Pant, Shreyas Iyer and Trent Boult but despite having such a stellar squad, the team's performance wasn't up to the mark because of the lack of inability to figure out the best XI. Some big names failed to deliver for the team which cost them very much.

One such example is Glenn Maxwell. The Australian cricketer, after a bidding war between SRH and RR and then SRH and DD, was bought by Delhi Daredevils for a strapping amount of 9 crores. Howbeit, the right-handed batsman's performance was mediocre as he could score only 169 runs in 12 matches at an average of 14.08.

The 30-year All Rounder couldn't do much with the ball as well and turned out to be too expensive for his team. Before the auctions for IPL 12, the franchise would surely look to release him and bring him back at a lower amount.

#3 Mitchell Starc (9.4 cr) - KKR

Kolkata Knight Riders performed quite decently in the 11th edition of IPL. The newly-established team, led by Dinesh Karthik made it to the playoffs of the season.

In the year 2018, KKR made a shocking decision by releasing it's two times IPL winning captain Gautam Gambhir prior to the auctions. The team had to face huge criticism for this. But the franchise put a full stop on all the debates as it bought some legends of the T20 format in the team and made the side sturdy in every aspect.

From Dinesh Karthik, Chris Lynn and Andre Russell in the batting department to Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti in the bowling department, the management strengthen the team in each and every field. It also bought Mitchell Starc for a massive amount of 9.4 crores but as usual, the Aussie pacer missed the season due to an injury.

Kolkata seems strong in every department will be one of the favourites to win IPL 12. The team has a problem of plenty in the bowling as it has a pace battery which consists of pacers such as Mitchell Johnson, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi. And with such experienced and young prospects already in the team, retaining injury-prone Mitchell Starc at such a huge amount will turn out to be a bit costly for the franchise. The team would obviously like to pick the seamer at a lesser price by releasing him now and later picking him in the auctions.

#4 Manish Pandey (11 cr) - SRH

Sunrisers Hyderabad had an impressive campaign in the last season as they made it to the finals for the second time in three years. The franchise despite not having their captain and lead player David Warner performed brilliantly and ended the league stages at the top of the table.

SRH got a shock right before the auctions of IPL 11, as it's captain David Warner was banned due to the sandpaper-gate and was prohibited from playing in the Indian Premier League. The team management, in spite of improving the batting line-up, focused more on the bowling department.

This turned out to be a masterstroke as the pace battery and spin department of the franchise was so good that it was competent of defending any total. Albeit, the batting needs were mostly fulfilled by the captain Kane Williamson himself, someone like Manish Pandey, on whom the management showered huge amount of faith, failed miserably to deliver when his team needed him.

Pandey was bought by the team for 11 crores. The 29-year old's performance wasn't up to his hefty worth since he scored only 284 runs in 15 matches at a poor strike rate of 115.44. Although the team's middle order performance isn't sorted yet and they would not like to let Manish Pandey go, the franchise would surely like to have him at a cheaper cost.

#5 Jaydev Unadkat (11.5 cr) - RR

Rajasthan Royals were returning back to IPL after the wait of 2 years and made the return quite decently. The team made it through the top playoffs as it ended the league stages at 4th position on the points table.

After losing Steve Smith prior to the auctions, the team seemed to weaken a bit and the main responsibility for the management was to bring back the core of the team. As the core members, players such as Ajinkya Rahane and Stuart Binny were picked.

The team tried to pick some big guns in its squad as it picked two most exciting prospects of English cricket Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes for whopping price 7.2 crores and 12.5 crores respectively. Along with the most expensive player of IPL 2018 in the form of Stokes, the team also bought the second most expensive cricketer of the season by picking Jaydev Unadkat at a huge sum of 11.5 crores. The seamer was the most expensive Indian player of IPL 11.

But the sad part of Rajasthan's campaign in IPL 11 was that most of their high-profile inclusions went in vain as till the time Jofra wasn't back into the squad, the team's performance was disastrous and was on the verge of elimination.

Even though RR made it to the playoffs last time, the million dollar baby Unadkat didn't perform as per the expectations. It's not that he should be released by the team but the franchise, this time, would undoubtedly like to bring him back at a bit lower price.