IPL 2019: 5 players who shouldn't have been released by their teams

The Indian Premier League has grown rich in stature and has played a major role in bringing talented cricketers to the fore. The IPL has also served as a platform for various uncapped cricketers to showcase their skills. It is one of the most successful and marketable T20 leagues across the world.

Though the next edition of the IPL will begin in the month of March, the IPL has already become the toast of the nation vastly due to the trade window and the upcoming auction. In this process, as much as 76 cricketers have been released from the 8 franchises.

Several high-profile cricketers including the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum have been let go of by their respective franchises.

While some teams have made the right decision by dropping their under-performing cricketers and retaining their stalwarts, several teams might have made a huge blunder by releasing their core players.

In this slider, we take a look at those pivotal players who shouldn't have been released by their respective franchises.

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#5 Mohit Sharma

Mohit Sharma

Mohit Sharma, the medium pace bowler was let go by Kings XI Punjab in the recently-concluded trade window. Kings XI Punjab has completely revamped their bowling attack as they have also released the likes of Axar Patel, Barinder Sran, Ben Dwarshuis and Pardeep Sahu.

Mohit was Mahendra Singh Dhoni's go-to bowler during his time at Chennai Super Kings. His combination of pace and swing have stifled even the top batsmen in the world. He is also an expert in bowling the deceptive slower balls.

In-spite of not having an impressive season last time around, Kings XI Punjab should have blindly held on to Mohit for his experience and the varieties in his bowling. Kings XI Punjab could regret letting go a bowler of such quality.

#4 Shahbaz Nadeem

Shahbaz Nadeem

Shahbaz Nadeem, the spin sensation from Bihar has been traded to Sunrisers Hyderabad from Delhi Daredevils in the recently concluded trade window.

Nadeem has been racking up consistent performances for a long time around in the domestic circuit and had also been rewarded with national-call up recently for the T20 series against West Indies.

The left-arm spinner is a massive turner of the ball and is highly effective in the powerplays. Added to that, he is a very economical bowler who can scalp wickets in quick successions.

He recently made it to the record books for the best bowling figures in List A cricket as he took 8 wickets while conceding just 10 runs against Rajasthan in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. In his 61 IPL appearances, he has taken 40 wickets at a decent economy rate of 7.37.

Delhi Daredevils would surely regret selling the in-form Shahbaz Nadeem to the star-studded Sunrisers Hyderabad.

#3 Quinton de Kock

Quinton de Kock

Trading Quinton de Kock to Mumbai Indians could easily be one of the biggest blunders made by Royal Challengers in the trade window. The South African wicket-keeper batsman can be a valuable addition to any franchise in the IPL.

de Kock is a productive opener and a reliable wicket-keeper. He has the ability to bat till the end of the innings and convert starts into three-digit scores.

The swashbuckling opener has scored 927 runs from 34 matches at a tremendous strike-rate of 130. In addition to scoring a century and six fifties, he has also effected 6 stumpings and 14 catches in his IPL career.

Royal Challengers Bangalore should have persisted with him as they don't possess a reliable wicket-keeper. Acquiring de Kock at the price of 2.8 crores is definitely a steal for Mumbai Indians.

#2 Carlos Brathwaite

Carlos Brathwaite

Carlos Brathwaite, the West Indies captain for the shortest format of the game hasn't got enough opportunities to prove his mettle in the Indian Premier League. He is one of the leading bowling all-rounders in the International circuit.

He has scaled greater heights in his career ever since he single-handedly won the ICC World T20 from the hands of England. He played an excellent cameo of 34 runs from just ten balls.

Brathwaite is more of an aggressive batsman who can take charge against any bowler. In addition to his batting, he is very effective with the ball and a great wicket-taker in the death overs.

Despite taking 5 wickets and scoring 75 runs at a jaw-dropping strike-rate of 156.25 from 4 matches last season, he was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad. Sunrisers Hyderabad should have undoubtedly retained Brathwaite as his absence from the squad could pose a major threat to SRH's lower-order batting.

#1 Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc, the 28-year-old Australian speedster was released by Kolkata Knight Riders along with likes of Mitchell Johnson, Tom Curran, Cameron Delport, Ishank Jaggi, Vinay Kumar, Apoorv Wankhade and Javon Searles.

Mitchell Starc is one of the most destructive bowlers of the modern era and is the backbone of Australia's bowling department. He can rip apart the stumps with his lightning yorkers and can get past through the defence of the batsman with ease.

Despite being bought for a massive price tag of 9.40 crores, Starc didn't make a single appearance for KKR last season owing to his right leg injury. He has pulled out of IPL several times due to his prolonged injuries.

However, in the past 3 months, he has worked on his fitness more than anything else and has got back in shape.

Kolkata Knight Riders shouldn't have released Mitchell Starc as he is back in the mix after a long time and could have played a vital role in KKR's run.