IPL Auction 2020: 3 teams who released least players

The trade window for IPL 2020 closed on 14th November while the franchises had to submit their respective retention lists before 5 PM on the 15th.

Royal Challengers Bangalore made the headlines by doing away with 12 of their squad members from IPL 2019. The Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals also released a bunch of players from their teams. One should note that all the three aforementioned franchises had finished in the bottom 4 of the points table in IPL 2019 and thus, the fans expected them to end their association with the underperforming players.

On the other hand, there were quite a few teams who retained their core from the previous season. We take a look at the three teams who released the least players before the auction.

Also see - England vs New Zealand schedule 2019

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#3 Kings XI Punjab - 7

David Miller will no longer play for the Mohali-based franchise

Kings XI Punjab have raised a few eyebrows by releasing the quartet of David Miller, Moises Henriques, Sam Curran and Andrew Tye after the trade window. While Miller had been struggling with his form in the past few seasons, Henriques never got a chance to prove his worth. The other two foreign names on the list, Tye and Curran had failed to curtail the runs in the slog overs.

Besides the overseas stars, KXIP have also ended their association with the domestic players Varun Chakravarthy, Prabhsimran Singh and Agnivesh Ayachi. It is surprising to note that the 2014 IPL runners-up have kept Hardus Viljoen in the side because the South African pacer had picked up 7 wickets in 6 games at an expensive economy rate of 9.65 while playing for Punjab in IPL 2019.

As they had released Ravichandran Ashwin during the trade window, KL Rahul is expected to take over the reins of the franchise this year.

Players released: David Miller, Moises Henriques, Sam Curran, Andrew Tye, Varun Chakravarthy, Prabhsimran Singh, Agnivesh Ayachi.

#2 Chennai Super Kings - 6

Sam Billings will return to the auction pool

Chennai Super Kings have been the most consistent team in the history of the Indian Premier League as the MS Dhoni-led outfit have qualified for the playoffs in all the seasons they have played. The Chennai-based franchise have lifted the IPL title thrice since 2009.

Since the team management of Chennai does not like to change its squad too mucg, they always retain their core before the auction. The Super Kings have only released 6 players before the auction and one of them had not played a single match for them in IPL 2019.

Sam Billings and Mohit Sharma are the biggest names present on the list of players released by the Super Kings. New Zealand’s pacer Scott Kuggeleijn and Billings’ compatriot David Willey will be a part of this year’s auction as well.

Delhi’s upcoming talent Dhruv Shorey and Chaitanya Bishnoi too will return to the auction pool as they try to find a new home for the upcoming season of the IPL.

Players released: Sam Billings, David Willey, Mohit Sharma, Dhruv Shorey, Scott Kuggeleijn, Chaitanya Bishnoi.

#1 Sunrisers Hyderabad - 5

Yusuf Pathan could not deliver the goods for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2019

The franchise which released the least players before the IPL auction is Sunrisers Hyderabad. The 2016 IPL winners were inactive during the trade window and they have opted to do away with only 5 players after the trade window.

From their overseas contingent, SRH have left out New Zealand’s dashing opener Martin Guptill and Bangladesh’s all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan. While Guptill was surplus to requirements for the franchise, Shakib is serving a one-year ban from competitive cricket.

In the Indian department, the team’s new head coach Trevor Bayliss has dropped the out-of-form all-rounders Yusuf Pathan and Deepak Hooda from the squad along with batsman, Ricky Bhui.

Since Sunrisers Hyderabad have retained a lot of their players, they are not expected to spend much in the auction either. They have the likes of Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow, David Warner and Manish Pandey in the batting lineup whereas Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Khaleel Ahmed and Sandeep Sharma will be their key to success for SRH in the bowling unit.

Players released: Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Martin Guptill, Deepak Hooda and Ricky Bhui.