How every team in IPL 2020 looks after releasing and retaining players

The IPL never fails to amaze us. Be it the nail-biting super over in the final or the tense player auction; the biggest T20 league in the world has everything a cricket fan can ask for. The preparations for the next edition have already started and the teams are ready for the auction in Kolkata next month. Before the big day, the franchises were given a window to trade players among themselves and it’s safe to say that some serious changes took place which no one saw coming.

The first major trade of the most active transfer windows in IPL history, came in the form of Ravichandran Ashwin who joined Delhi Capitals from Kings XI Punjab. Under their former skipper, KXIP showed glimpses of promise but ended their campaign empty handed two years in a row. Another major addition for the Delhi franchise was Ajinkya Rahane, who like Ashwin bid farewell to captaincy and joined from Rajasthan Royals. These two veterans will undoubtedly help the the youngest squad of the IPL finish in a respectable position they’ve been desperate of since the last decade.

To bolster their pace attack, Mumbai Indians pulled off the biggest coup, trading Kiwi pacer Trent Boult from Delhi Capitals. With the fiery Jasprit Bumrah to partner him, the Indians have built themselves a formidable pace attack for next year.

Rajasthan Royals have also been busy these last few days but surprisingly, they parted with the most capped player in their history (Ajinkya Rahane) and also let go of K Gowtham, who has been a revelation in the domestic circuit. The Jaipur based team have brought Rahul Tewatia, Ankit Rajpoot and Mayank Markande from Delhi, KXIP and Mumbai respectievely and it’ll be an interesting auction for them.

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While the complete list of players released and traded by franchises is quite long, we’re giving an overview of how the teams look after the end of the busiest trade window.

Chennai Super Kings

No players have been swapped or traded in the window but five players including fast bowler Mohit Sharma, Sam Billings, David Willey, Dhruv Shorey and Chaitanya Bishnoi find themselves out of the squad.

Delhi Capitals

As mentioned above Delhi Capitals, are desperate to reach the play-offs regularly. The team has undergone major changes following their rebranding, and after a long wait, reached the play-offs last time. However, the team management were looking for experience to lead the youngsters by examples and the acquisitions of Ashwin and Rahane adds the icing on the cake.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Shah Rukh Khan’s team just added Siddesh Lad to the side from Mumbai in the trading window but have released some of their core players like Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa and Piyush Chawla. With 35 crores in their kitty, KKR will be eager to revamp the squad and build around Andre Russell.

Kings XI Punjab

It seems that Kings XI Punjab never learn from their mistakes. The franchise continue to change personnel more often than others in search for the elusive IPL crown. Therefore, Ashwin gets the boot this year and has been replaced by K Gowtham. However, they also released their crucial pinch-hitter David Miller in the process as well. With the highest amount to spend among all teams, Anil Kumble led KXIP need to bolster the squad in every department unlike everyone else.

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Mumbai Indians

Reigning champions Mumbai Indians proved to be smart in the window. Beside Boult, West Indian Sherfane Rutherford has been included as a handy pinch-hitting option at the top of the order. But it is their pace attack which has garnered much attention. The likes of Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, Trent Boult and the newly added Dhawal Kulkarni as the bowling options will send chills down the opponent’s spine.

Rajasthan Royals

Ruthless Rajasthan Royals released 13 players including their match-winners K Gowtham and Rahane last week. Despite the addition of Ankit Rajpoot and Rahul Tewatia to strengthen their bench it’ll be hard for the Royals to find Rahane’s replacement. The management howver explained that they found it difficult to accommodate both Smith and Rahane in the lineup and decided to keep the former as their new leader.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

RCB were idle during the transfer window but released 11 of their players including stars like Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetymer, Nathan Coulter-Nile, and Tim Southee as Virat Kohli’s side have 27 crores in their purse to refill the squad.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers can be considered as one of the few teams to have a well-balanced squad at their disposal. The Hyderabad based franchise have let go just five players including the suspended Shakib al Hasan. Trevor Bayliss’s team have only 17 crores to spend we’re pretty much sure that they will do that wisely.

Now that the trade window is over and with a hefty amount to spend, the teams are eager to reshape and balance their squad on December 19^th in Kolkata.

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