It’s that time of the year again in the Indian Premier League as the ten franchises announced their player retentions and releases ahead of the 2023 IPL auction in December. There were a few surprises and omissions in the retentions list, with franchises saying goodbye to stalwarts and legends, and here are how the IPL teams stack up with the make-up of their squad and best XI.
In part 2, we will look at the Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
In case you missed Part 1, check it out here.
Players released: Kieron Pollard (INR 6 crore), Anmolpreet Singh (INR 20 lakh), Aryan Juyal (INR 20 lakh), Basil Thampi (INR 30 lakh), Daniel Sams (INR 2.6 crore), Fabian Allen (INR 75 lakh), Jaydev Unadkat (INR 1.3 crore), Mayank Markande (INR 65 lakh), Murugan Ashwin (INR 1.6 crore), Rahul Buddhi (INR 20 lakh), Riley Meredith (INR 1 crore), Sanjay Yadav (INR 50 lakh), Tymal Mills (INR 1.5 crore)
Purse remaining: INR 20.55 Crore
Slots remaining (overseas): 9 (3)
Current best XI: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Tristan Stubbs, _____, Jofra Archer, Hrithik Shokeen, Kumar Kartikeya, Jasprit Bumrah
After their most disappointing season in IPL history in 2022, the Mumbai Indians have made wholesale changes to their squad as they released 13 players ahead of the IPL auction. The most notable exit is that of franchise legend and one-club man Kieron Pollard, who will now become Mumbai’s batting coach from 2023 onwards after opting to retire from the IPL as a player.
Mumbai still have a lot of work to do at the IPL auction, and the main priority should be to sign an overseas all-rounder at number seven to fix the balance the side. Sam Curran would be the ideal target, but Jason Holder could also be a handy number two option for that spot. Mumbai also need to add Indian spinners to their ranks to replace the underperforming duo of Murugan Ashwin and Mayank Markande from last year.
Jason Behrendorf is a decent backup overseas pacer, but considering the fitness of Archer and Bumrah, the Mumbai Indians also have to invest significantly in their fast bowling resources.
Players released: Mayank Agarwal (INR 14 crore), Odean Smith (INR 6 crore), Vaibhav Arora (INR 2 crore), Benny Howell (INR 40 lakh), Ishan Porel (INR 20 lakh), Ansh Patel (INR 20 lakh), Prerak Mankad (INR 20 lakh), Sandeep Sharma (INR 50 lakh), Writtick Chatterjee (INR 20 lakh)
Purse remaining: INR 32.2 Crore
Slots remaining (overseas): 9 (3)
Current best XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Shahrukh Khan, _____, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh
The Punjab Kings have the second-biggest purse heading into the 2023 IPL auction after completing another U-turn in terms of their strategy by releasing captain Mayank Agarwal and replacing him with Shikhar Dhawan. The Kings’ main area of weakness in their XI is the middle-order and Punjab could be one of the teams that goes in heavily for Sam Curran, Jason Holder, or Ben Stokes. Barring Arshdeep Singh, Punjab are also light on Indian seam-bowling options and that should be an area addressed in the IPL auction.
Players released: Anunay Singh (INR 20 lakh), Corbin Bosch (INR 20 lakh), Daryl Mitchell (INR 75 lakh), James Neesham (INR 1.5 crore), Karun Nair (INR 1.4 crore), Nathan Coulter-Nile (INR 2 crore), Rassie van der Dussen (INR 1 crore), Shubham Garhwal (INR 20 lakh), Tejas Baroka (INR 20 lakh)
Purse remaining: INR 13.2 Crore
Slots remaining (overseas): 9 (4)
Current best XI: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, ______, Ravichandran Ashwin, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult
Although Rajasthan Royals have released four overseas players, the reigning finalists have kept the bulk of the squad that reached last year’s final in Ahmedabad. The only real focus point for the Royals at this auction is backups and a true number seven.
The Royals did admirably last season by using Ravichandran Ashwin as a floater, but there is a ceiling to that tactic and having four number 11’s coming in at the death hampers their batters depth significantly. Going all in on a pace-bowling all-rounder such as Jason Holder, Cameron Green or Ben Stokes who can offer 2-3 overs and significant power-hitting upside could provide better balance to the side.
Players released: Jason Behrendorff (INR 75 lakh), Aneeshwar Gautam (INR 20 lakh), Chama Milind (INR 25 lakh), Luvnith Sisodia (INR 20 lakh), Sherfane Rutherford (INR 1 crore)
Purse remaining: INR 8.75 Crore
Slots remaining (overseas): 7 (2)
Current best XI: Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj
After their promising campaign in the IPL in 2022, the Royal Challengers Bangalore didn’t need to do anything fancy ahead of the 2023 auction, and the team have kept the majority of players the same heading into next season. Jason Behrendorf and Sherfane Rutherford are the only two significant players they released, and RCB have enough of a purse to find adequate replacements for those two profiles at the IPL auction.
Players released: Kane Williamson (INR 14 crore), Nicholas Pooran (INR 10.75 crore), Jagadeesha Suchith (INR 20 lakh), Priyam Garg (INR 20 lakh), Ravikumar Samarth (INR 20 lakh), Romario Shepherd (INR 7.75 crore), Saurabh Dubey (INR 20 lakh), Sean Abbott (INR 2.4 crore), Shashank Singh (INR 20 lakh), Shreyas Gopal (INR 75 lakh), Sushant Mishra (INR 20 lakh), Vishnu Vinod (INR 50 lakh)
Purse remaining: INR 42.25 Crore
Slots remaining (overseas): 13 (4)
Current best XI: Abishek Sharma, _____, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Glenn Phillips, Abdul Samad, ______, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, T Natarajan
SRH made major moves ahead of the 2023 IPL auction as they released two of their highest-paid players from last season, captain Kane Williamson and Nicholas Pooran. SRH have the highest budget amongst all IPL teams heading into the IPL auction and there are only two real positions of concern for the team to address at the auction.
The first is an opener to complement Abhishek Sharma, and with Mayank Agarwal released by the Punjab Kings expect him to be the first choice for that slot. The second is an overseas pace bowling allrounder at number seven, and Hyderabad are also going to be one of those teams that bid heavily for the likes of Sam Curran, Ben Stokes, Jason Holder or Cameron Green.
Shivaan Shah