IPL 2019: 5 Players who Kings XI Punjab might release after this season.

Kings XI Punjab endured another unsatisfying IPL campaign as they finished 6th after being in a good position to qualify for the playoffs after the first 10 games. The lack of composure in bowling in death overs and lack of winning contributions from their middle order was the main reason for yet another slump for the team.

Skipper Ravichandran Ashwin's run-out incident incited a lot of controversies but Punjab marched merrily in the opening stages of the tournament winning games with ease. The downfall, however, started when Ashwin began rotating the players based on venue and not on performance and this rotation policy combined with wrong selection and bids at the auction started taking their toll.

They could win only 2 out of their last 8 games and gathered just 12 points losing out to SRH by virtue of their negative Net Run Rate.

They have a lot to tinker with and think about ahead of the next season and with the side known to make widespread changes to the team, expect no different this time around.

On that note, let's take a look at 5 players who Kings XI Punjab could release before the next season.

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#5 Ankit Rajpoot

Has Ankit Rajpoot lost his steam? (Image Courtesy: IPLT20)

Ankit Rajpoot emerged as a real match-winner for Punjab last season as he handled the new ball really well and picked up 11 wickets including a stunning 5-wicket haul against Delhi. That was the very reason why Punjab retained him for IPL 2019 but the seamer failed to carry on the momentum as he had a horrid time in IPL 2019.

Ashwin's constant rotation meant that Rajpoot could never get settled but even if he did, he wasn't able to perform well. Rajpoot picked up just 3 wickets from 4 matches at a poor economy rate of 9.50 and gave away a lot of runs in the death overs which cost Punjab dearly as the qualification scenario shows.

With many younger and more exciting talents available, it's unlikely that he will be retained for their next campaign.

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#4 Andrew Tye

Andrew Tye was taken for runs by most batsmen who faced him this season. (Image Courtesy: IPLT20)

Never did anyone imagine that last season's Purple Cap winner Andrew Tye would be battling for a spot in the side but skipper Ashwin made sure that a minimum of 2 changes were made per game and players like Tye were the ones most affected by it. Tye was unable to get into a rhythm and could feature in only 6 games picking up just 3 wickets in the process. His countless slower deliveries and variations were picked by the batsmen and most of the mystery about his bowling was lost.

While Tye still has a lot left in him, Punjab has been a side who don't have that much faith or patience in players who haven't performed and though it won't be the first thing on their mind, releasing Andrew Tye won't come as too much of a surprise after his exploits this season.

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#3 Hardus Viljoen

Hardus Viljoen- Another unsatisfactory pace bowling performance. (Image Courtesy: IPLT20)

Hardus Viljoen was set to be Kings XI Punjab's backup overseas pacer for Andrew Tye but he was backed by skipper Ashwin only for him to deliver a highly inconsistent performance. Apart from Mohammed Shami and the occasional spell from Sam Curran, no other KXIP pacer looked comfortable near the bowling crease and despite Ashwin's constant rotation policy, he wasn't able to find the right option.

Viljoen picked up 7 wickets from 6 games at a poor economy rate of 9.65 and this statistic clearly shows that Ashwin was wrong to place Viljoen over last season's Purple Cap winner Tye who played only 6 matches. With many young players like Arshdeep Singh and Agnivesh Ayachi in the squad, Punjab should have shipped Viljoen out to provide these players an opportunity.

A lot of young international fast bowlers will be available next year in the auction and with Punjab being known for their tendency to retain fewer players, Viljoen might as well be waving goodbye to his place in the team.

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#2 Varun Chakravarthy

Another mystery spinner bites the dust? (Image Courtesy: IPLT20)

Mystery spinners have garnered a lot of craze and money from IPL franchises and all T20 teams think that one is essential for the side. Punjab however expected to outdo the others and get another one in their ranks despite having one of the world's best mystery spinners(Mujeeb) and did so by signing Varun Chakravarthy for ₹8.4 Crore. Their expectations, however, were reduced to rubble as the spinner was unable to maintain his fitness and sustained injury after injury and was able to feature in only one game.

A mystery spinner being bought for a high price and then failing is no surprise as players like KC Cariappa have failed miserably in the league. Varun was taken apart by Sunil Narine in his first over as he conceded 25 runs in his debut IPL over. He managed to pull things back picking up a wicket but these little performances haven't managed to hide the fact that his buy was a huge failure for the side.

To free up money for further investments in the auction, Punjab are bound to release players and with Mujeeb being an internationally proven talent, Varun might have to find another suitor in the upcoming auction.

#1 Chris Gayle

IPL 2019 might be Chris Gayle's final stand (Image Courtesy: IPLT20.com)

'Universe Boss' Chris Gayle had yet another satisfying season and didn't disappoint the fans as he scored 493 runs from 13 innings scoring at a strike-rate of 153.60 and average of 40.83. However, this season might be his last in the IPL as he is slowly detaching himself from many T20 leagues after announcing that he would retire from international cricket after this season.

This might very well be the end of an era in the IPL and though Punjab will surely want to do whatever they can to keep him playing, Gayle is likely to hang up his boots after this season. He formed a brilliant opening stand with KL Rahul which was the biggest strength for the side but the duo received little support from their middle order who came alive only in the last couple of games.

The fact that he wasn't able to get one IPL title under his belt would want to make this champion play but it's highly unlikely that such things will happen. Punjab may have to make the toughest release in the franchise's history in letting Gayle go. Finding a replacement for him will be even tougher but at the end of the day, Chris Gayle is likely to retire and force Punjab to release him.