IPL 2019 News: Manish Pandey, Jaydev Unadkat, Ben Stokes to be released?

What’s the story?

On the last day of the trade window ahead of IPL 2019, IPL franchises could be releasing few of the biggest buys from last year's Auction. Sunrisers Hyderabad's Manish Pandey and the Rajasthan Royals duo of Jaydev Unadkat, Ben Stokes could all be on the way out.

According to a report in the Mumbai Mirror, the trio could be amongst the biggest players released just a year after they were bought by their respective teams. Pandey, who was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 11 Crore, could just manage a total of 284 runs in the tournament, which saw him being dropped from the playing XI.

The Background

In the mega-auction for IPL 2018, the Indian Premier League franchises opened their purses for the players and spent huge amounts to acquire the services of some top stars. Among those players who highlighted the auction were Manish Pandey, KL Rahul, Ben Stokes, Jaydev Unadkat and few others. Out of the four mentioned players, only KL Rahul delivered to the promise for his franchise Kings XI Punjab. Pandey had a dry run with the bat whereas Stokes and Unadkat failed to do justice to the amount for which they were bought by Rajasthan Royals.

The Details

Ben Stokes, who was the most expensive player in the IPL auction for the second running year, scored 196 runs and took just one wicket in IPL 2018. He also had an early exit from the league due to international commitments. In IPL 2019, he might miss a major portion of the tournament as England Cricket Board is expected to call back its players a month before the World Cup.

Jaydev Unadkat had a dream IPL 2017, which saw him making his comeback to the national side and also going for Rs 11.5 Crore in IPL 2018 auction. He could not deliver on the promise and claimed 11 wickets, failing to do justice with his selling price. The left-arm pacer also lost his spot in the Indian team after a poor run in the IPL. He also looks set to be released by his franchise.

What’s next?

Cricket can be a leveller. Ben Stokes, Jaydev Unadkat and Manish Pandey could soon feel the shock of having to find a new franchise to represent in the upcoming season of the IPL. The nature of the IPL is such that one season you can be heroes and be praised a lot, but if the performances don’t come in as expected, the franchises will not be too kind to their players.

Clearly, Rajasthan Royals betted big on Jaydev Unadkat and Ben Stokes and it backfired big time. Owing to their hefty price tags they were made to play all the games irrespective of their form. The same logic applied to Manish Pandey whose performances luckily didn’t hamper his team’s performance as SRH reached the finals only to be outclassed by the returning Chennai Super Kings.