IPL Auction 2020: 5 biggest names who were released

CricWiz
Lynn and Uthappa have been a big part of KKR setup.
Lynn and Uthappa have been a big part of KKR setup.

Things are heating up as the 13th season of the Indian Premier League approaches. The IPL has evolved over time with the teams being wiser in terms of their squad formations. Teams have been extremely proactive this time around as well and have utilised the trade window and releasing of players. This was perhaps the busiest trade window in the history of IPL with big guns like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane being traded out of their respective teams.

The teams got a chance to weed out players who were either under-utilised or failed to perform as per expectations in the last season and they seem to have made good use of it.

While some releases were expected, other big names being left out was quite surprising. Here are five of the biggest names that were released by the franchises.

Also see – T10 schedule


#5 Robin Uthappa (Kolkata Knight Riders)

Robin Uthappa
Robin Uthappa

Robin Uthappa's long association with Kolkata Knight Riders ended with the former being released for the upcoming IPL season. Uthappa joined KKR in 2014, the year they won their second IPL title and has been the backbone of KKR's batting since then. Uthappa has been extremely versatile and has batted at various positions in the line-up. The Karnataka batsman also kept wickets for the side for a long time. Even though his performance has been steady over the years, questions were raised on his intent, or the lack of it, in IPL 2019.

Uthappa failed to get going in the middle overs and his slow batting cost KKR a couple of matches. He scored 282 runs in 12 games with an average of 31.33. However, his low strike-rate of 115.10 was a big talking point. KKR has put their money on youngsters in the past couple of seasons and thus, Uthappa was released from the side.

#4 Shimron Hetmyer (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Shimron Hetmyer.
Shimron Hetmyer.

Shimron Hetmyer was a hot property at the IPL 2019 auctions. The West Indian's aggressive stroke-making attracted a lot of attention from all the franchises. However, it was Royal Challengers Bangalore who snapped the left-handed batsman at a jaw-dropping amount of 4.20 crores. Hetmyer was expected to take some pressure off Virat Kohli and Ab de Villiers and provide stability to RCB's fragile middle-order.

However, Hetmyer struggled big time and amassed just 90 runs in 5 games at an average of 18. Due to his poor run, the 22-year-old was dropped from RCB's playing XI. Hetmyer's knock of 75 runs in the final game of RCB was his only highlight. However, it wasn't enough for him to retain his place in RCB's squad for the next season. Having said that, Hetmyer is a talented player and it won't be a surprise if he earns big bucks once again at the auction.

#3 David Miller (Kings XI Punjab)

David Miller.
David Miller.

David Miller is one of the few players who have played for just one franchise during their entire IPL career. However, come IPL 2020, this could change. Miller, who has been an integral part of the Kings XI Punjab setup for years, was dropped from the squad for IPL 2020. The South African has played some stellar cricket for the franchise over the years and has even captained the side in a few matches.

In the past couple of years though, there has been a major dip in Miller's form. Killer-Miller, as he is famously known, scored 74 runs in three games in 2018 and 213 runs in 10 games in 2019. Miller is known for his ability to score quick runs in the death overs but unfortunately he hasn't succeeded in doing so in the recent past. All these factors contributed to Miller's release by the team.

#2 Jaydev Unadkat (Rajasthan Royals)

Jaydev Unadkat.
Jaydev Unadkat.

Rajasthan Royals seem to have finally run out of patience with Jaydev Unadkat. After putting faith in Unadkat's ability at last year's auction, despite his lacklustre performances in IPL 2018, the Royals have parted ways with the left-arm seamer ahead of the 2020 IPL auctions.

Unadkat fetched an eye-catching sum of 11.50 crore at the 2018 IPL auctions. After poor performances in IPL 2018, the Royals released Unadkat only to buy him back at the auction for a lesser amount, this time 8.40 crore. After yet another dismal IPL season, the Saurashtra pacer has been released by the Royals. The 27-year-old took just 10 wickets in 11 games while giving away runs at a high economy of 10.66 in IPL 2019.

It will be interesting to see whether the Royals are still willing to buy Unadkat for a lesser price or explore new options in the pace department.

#1 Chris Lynn (Kolkata Knight Riders)

Chris Lynn.
Chris Lynn.

Chris Lynn's release by Kolkata Knight Riders was quite unexpected. Lynn has been a steady performer for KKR over the years. The Australian batsman has given blistering starts to the Knight Riders and destroyed oppositions with his hard-hitting batting. Despite fitness issues, Lynn has been exceptional for KKR. While he scored 491 runs at an average of 32.73 in 2018, Lynn scored 405 runs at an average of 31.15. His strike-rate has also been on the higher side.

One of the biggest, and perhaps the only, reasons that could have made KKR drop Lynn was his huge price. The 29-year-old Australian was retained at a huge price of 9.6 crores, an amount KKR might have felt is a little too high. With an excellent IPL record, Lynn might be bought back by KKR at a lower price at the auction. However, other teams might want to rope in Lynn which might trigger a bidding war at the auction.

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Edited by A. Ayush Chatterjee