IPL 2020: 5 players who might be released due to their high price tag ahead of the auction

We are almost a month away from yet another exciting Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. For the first time in the history of IPL, the auction will be conducted in Kolkata on December 19, 2019. Ahead of the new season, the franchises have already made a few trade moves and shuffled their coaching and supporting staff.

The trading window for IPL 2020 will close on November 14, 2019. Hence, we can soon expect the list of released players from each franchise. With several high profile players and expensive signings flopped in the last season, we can expect the franchises to release those players to increase their purse value ahead of the upcoming auction.

Let us look at five such players who might be released due to their high price tag ahead of the upcoming auction.

Also see – World Test Championship Schedule

---

#5 Varun Chakravarthy (Kings XI Punjab)

Varun Chakravarthy

Varun Chakravarthy, the Tamil Nadu spinner, made the headlines last year with his fantastic bowling performances in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2018. With so many experienced players available in the 2018 TNPL player draft, he was surprisingly chosen as the no.1 pick by the Siechem Madurai Panthers franchise.

Hyped as a Mystery Spinner, Varun lived up to the expectations and bamboozled the batsmen throughout the season. He predominantly bowled one over upfront, one in the middle, and two in the slog overs. In 10 matches, he claimed nine wickets and finished the season with an astonishing dot ball percentage of 52.08.

As a result, Varun caught the attention of several IPL franchises. Since R Ashwin, the former Kings XI Punjab captain, watched Varun in close quarters during TNPL 2018, KXIP decided to spend big on Varun and bought him for a massive sum of INR 8.4 crore. Unfortunately, Varun sustained a finger injury ahead of IPL 2019 and managed to play only one game before being ruled out of the entire season.

Since KXIP has traded Ashwin and assembled a new think-tank now, we can expect Varun to be released ahead of the auction.

#4 Colin Ingram (Delhi Capitals)

Colin Ingram

Colin Ingram, the former South African cricketer, has a big reputation in the T20 leagues around the world. He led Adelaide Strikers to glory in the Big Bash League 2017-18. Besides that, Ingram is currently captaining the English county team, Glamorgan, in the T20 format. Recently, he turned out for St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League 2019.

After being ousted from the IPL for a long time, he was finally picked by Delhi Capitals in last year's auction for a massive sum of INR 6.4 crore. Ingram was supposed to play a crucial role in the inexperienced Delhi middle-order. However, he failed miserably in his comeback season as he scored only 184 runs from 12 matches with a below-par strike rate of 119.48.

Since Ingram's returns with the bat failed to do any justice to his price tag, he might be released by the Delhi franchise ahead of the auction.

#3 Carlos Brathwaite (Kolkata Knight Riders)

Carlos Brathwaite

Carlos Brathwaite rose to fame when he struck those famous four consecutive sixes against England to clinch the ICC T20 World Cup trophy in 2016. Since then, he has played in various T20 leagues around the world. At one stage, he was even made the captain of the West Indies T20 team.

Over the years, Brathwaite has become a permanent fixture in IPL and represented various IPL teams. KKR bought him for a considerable sum of INR 5 crore in last year's IPL auction. He was supposed to play the back-up role for his countrymate Andre Russell.

Brathwaite managed to play only two games in IPL 2019. In both matches, he failed to make any significant contribution with both the bat and ball. Even though he has got the opportunity to play only for fewer games, we can expect Brathwaite to be released by KKR due to his high price tag.

#2 Jaydev Unadkat (Rajasthan Royals)

Jaydev Unadkat

Jaydev Unadkat is one among the long list of Indian pacers who never played to their full potential in the International arena. Even though he continued to perform well in the domestic circuit, he has often failed continuously in the big stage.

Representing Rising Pune Supergiant, Unadkat had a stellar IPL 2017 campaign as he claimed 24 wickets in just 12 games. As a result, Rajasthan Royals bought him for a massive sum of INR 11.5 crore in the IPL 2018 auction.

However, the Saurashtra pacer failed to repeat his previous year heroics as he managed to take only 11 wickets from 15 games with a high economy rate of 9.65. Hence, Rajasthan released him ahead of last year's auction.

Surprisingly, Rajasthan once again went for Unadkat in last year's auction and bought him for a massive sum of INR 8.4 crore. However, Unadkat failed for the second consecutive season as he claimed ten wickets from 11 games with an expensive economy rate of 10.66. As a result, we can expect Rajasthan to repeat their last year's strategy of releasing him and resign again for a sum lesser than the previous year's auction.

#1 Shimron Hetmyer (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Shimron Hetmyer

Shimron Hetmyer is one of the exciting young prospects from the Caribbean Islands. The 2016 U19 World Cup-winning skipper made his mark in the CPL 2018 with his explosive knocks throughout the season. In 12 matches, he accumulated 440 runs, including a century and two fifties with a tremendous strike rate of 148.14.

Soon, he made his debut in the international arena and started to perform well for West Indies. In particular, he scored a blitzkrieg century against India in the five-match ODI series that preceded the IPL auction. As a result, his price tag went high, and he was bought by RCB for a considerable sum of INR 4.2 crore.

However, Hetmyer failed to set the IPL stage on fire in his debut season. He managed to score only 90 runs in his five games, with 73 of them coming in a single game. Since Hetmyer's form has taken a massive hit in the last few months, we can expect RCB to release him ahead of the auction to increase their purse value.