IPL 2020: 3 players who should have been released for auction

There is already a lot of hype surrounding IPL 2020 and it's only going to increase as the date for the auction gets closer. The IPL Auction 2020 is set to be held in Kolkata on December 19th and the final pool of players who'll take part in the auction will be released by Monday, December 9th.

The franchises have announced the list of players retained and released leading to the auction. This came after a frantic end to the trade window which saw stars like Ajinkya Rahane, Trent Boult, and Ravichandran Ashwin switching sides. There were a few surprising releases like that of Marcus Stoinis (RCB), Chris Lynn (KKR) and Chris Morris (DC). With that being said, there were also a few surprising retentions. Let's take a look at 3 players who should have been released by their teams.

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#3 Hardus Viljoen (Kings XI Punjab)

Hardus Viljoen hasn't had the desired impact playing for Punjab

Former Proteas pacer Hardus Viljoen was retained by KXIP ahead of the auction. But frankly, the burly fast bowler didn't deserve to be retained. With 7 wickets in 6 matches at a poor economy rate of 9.65, Viljoen didn't have the desired impact playing for Punjab. Though his overall stats in T20s are good, the graph is clearly showing a decline.

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His performances post the IPL haven't been great either. He played for the St. Lucia Zouks in Caribbean Premier League 2019 and picked up just 6 wickets from 8 matches. He's currently playing for the Paarl Rocks in Mzansi Super League 2019 and isn't having a good season. He has a steep economy rate of 10.24. If this is the case on pacy South African tracks which suit his style of bowling, one can only wonder how much worse it can get on Indian tracks.

Viljoen doesn't add much value to this Punjab side and should have been released to free up an overseas slot which could've helped them in the auction.

#2 Mohammed Siraj (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Mohammed Siraj slightly fumbles as he fields for RCB

Mohammed Siraj was backed extensively by skipper Virat Kohli last season but the Hyderabad pacer couldn't do justice to his talent. The 25-year old picked up just 7 wickets from 9 games last season and leaked runs at an economy rate of 9.55. Despite this no-show, he was retained by RCB ahead of the auction in what seems to be the wrong move.

Siraj is undoubtedly a great talent and has shown it on many occasions in the domestic circuit. But there seems to be an unease or nervousness whenever he's playing in front of a big crowd. Be it for the national side or RCB in the IPL, the big crowds and the TV cameras seem to have put off his performances. He bowled a lot of loose balls in the death overs and was sloppy on the field as well. A new franchise would have allowed him to make a fresh start. A lesser price tag would've eased the pressure off him and made him a consistent performer even in the IPL.

#1 Kedar Jadhav (Chennai Super Kings)

Kedhar Jadhav is the finisher for CSK

Sticking to their policy of retaining most of their squad, CSK released just 6 players ahead of the auction. While most of the picks are well justified, retaining Kedar Jadhav could prove to be detrimental for the Yellow Army.

After being bought for a whopping ₹7.8 Crore and missing the 2018 season due to injury, a lot was expected of him in 2019. But the Maharashtra batsman struggled to make an impact and ended up having a poor season. He scored just 162 runs in 14 matches at a poor strike-rate of 95.85 and again missed the last few games due to injury.

Jadhav's stats indicate that he isn't best suited to the T20 format having scored just 1079 runs in 79 matches at a sub-par average of 22.95. Even in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Jadhav couldn't make too much of an impact and could score only 222 runs averaging 24.66.

While he has done well for India in the ODI format, he has never proved himself in the T20s and he just isn't good enough to feature in every game. With middling performances and age not on his side, CSK should have released Jadhav to free up some cash.