IPL 2019: 3 players that should have been retained, but weren't

15th November was the deadline for submitting the list of retained players and the players the IPL franchises would like to release. With that day gone, the team compositions have come out in the open, which have featured quite a few surprises.

While nearly all the household names and marquee players were retained, there were a few notable exceptions. With just a month to go for the auctions, the franchises had to be ready with their game plan, and looking at the list, they seem to be so.

The 11th edition of the IPL was predicted to be the most competitive one, but it failed to live up to the expectations. So now the franchises have started going about restructuring their teams, and in the process have let go of of an average of 10 players.

Some of those names were completely unexpected. Listed below are three players that should have been retained by their franchises, but they will either be a part of the auction or have already been sent to another team via the trade window.

#3 Mandeep Singh (RCB)

Mandeep Singh is a middle order Indian batsman who plays for Punjab in the domestic circuit. He has been a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore from the 2015 season of the IPL.

Mandeep was brought back into the RCB team in the 2018 auction at the price of 1.4 Cr. He was used as a floater at No. 5 and No. 6, and amassed a total of 252 runs in the 9 innings he played.

That can be termed as a good return for a batsman coming in at that number. Moreover, he has also carried his form in the domestic circuit as well, scoring plenty of runs for Punjab this season.

But unfortunately for him, he was exchanged with Marcus Stoinis, who was a part of KXIP. We will now see Mandeep Singh playing for his home team in the IPL as well.

However, RCB may have missed a trick by not retaining him. Mandeep is a useful player who can play in a variety of positions, and his presence will likely be missed in Kohli's team next year.

#2 Carlos Brathwaite

The Windies captain Carlos Brathwaite will soon be seen in different colors in the Vivo IPL

The captain of the West Indies T20I side, Carlos Brathwaite is a lower middle order all-rounder. He is best known for the 4 sixes he hit in 4 balls to lead his country to their second World T20 title.

Brathwaite is an explosive batsman and a very handy bowler. He started his IPL career after the 2016 World T20, and was a part of Delhi Daredevils for two years before joining Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018.

The four times he was selected in the playing XI in 2018, he scored a total of 75 runs and took 5 wickets. But for a player of his caliber, he should have played more games.

Brathwaite will be one of the many players who will go under the hammer in the auction that is to be held in Jaipur on the 16th and 17th of December 2018.

#1 Shikhar Dhawan (SRH)

Dhawan will be a part of DD in 2019

Shikhar Dhawan is a name that needs no introduction. The 32-year-old Indian opener has been playing in the IPL right since the inaugural season, and has also been a regular presence in the national team.

Having played in 11 seasons of the league, Dhawan is someone who doesn't need to prove his abilities anymore. The left-hander has over 4000 runs in 142 outings, at a decent strike-rate of 123.5.

He had been a part of the SRH side since it had joined the IPL, and had been consistently performing for them. Even in the 2018 season, he scored close to 500 runs in 16 outings with an average of almost 40. 2012 was his best season where he scored 569 runs in 15 innings at a healthy average of 40.

In 2019 though, the Delhi lad will return home, and will be seen in blue and red at the Kotla. The addition of Dhawan to the Delhi squad straightens their already strong top order, filled with the likes of Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant.

But will SRH be able to find an able replacement for him? Considering the paucity of Indian top order batsmen available at the auctions, that seems unlikely.