The last day of trades and retentions were bound to be hectic and we saw as many as 71 players released by Indian T20 League franchises on Friday. 34 of these are overseas names and the franchises are left with fatter purses ahead of the all-important auctions on December 19 in Kolkata.
Divided by cities, here is a glance at how many players were released by each and what their bank balance is.
Players released
Chennai - 6
Bangalore - 12
Mumbai - 10
Hyderabad - 5
Kolkata - 11
Punjab - 7
Delhi - 9
Rajasthan – 11
While Rajasthan, Kolkata and Bangalore decided to let go of their players in bulk, Hyderabad was the only franchise to release five players or less. That teams like Mumbai and Chennai, who are usually steady with their group, decided to release so many players raised queries.
A glance at the list of players released gives a clearer picture though. Take Punjab for instance. They released Varun Chakravarthy who was bought for Rs 8.4 crore in the last auction. They also released a half-fit Andrew Tye, a 7.2 crore INR purchase, Sam Curran (7.2 cr) and wicket-keeper batsman Prabhsimran Singh (4.2 cr) along with regular David Miller (3 cr). It freed up Rs 42.7 crore for Punjab to spend in the upcoming auctions, a realistic chance to build a better group of players with the other teams having considerably lesser money.
Read | Which was the smartest Indian T20 League team in the transfer market?
Rajasthan, on the other hand, shed Jaydev Unadkat – an 8.4 crore INR purchase.
One surprise was franchises releasing regular players. Punjab releasing Miller, Kolkata releasing Chris Lynn, Piyush Chawla and Robin Uthappa and Delhi discarding Morris, who they had retained earlier, all point towards a lack of trust. But a closer inspection reveals that these players are all past their prime and it is just a realisation hitting home that there needs to be a change. It is to be noted that neither Mumbai nor Chennai have let go anyone from their regular group of players because they have managed to reap success with the team they have.
A look at the balance remaining for the franchises ahead of auction shows what was achieved from the clean-up.
Purse remaining
Chennai – 14.6cr
Bangalore – 27.9cr
Mumbai – 13.05cr
Hyderabad – 17cr
Kolkata – 35.65cr
Punjab – 42.7cr
Delhi – 27.85cr
Rajasthan – 28.9cr
By shedding big purchases, franchises have not only opened up the possibility of buying better replacement players but also possibly purchasing the same players at a lower cost. A player like Varun Chakravarthy or Manjot Kalra (the under-19 player Delhi released) might not cost as much in the auctions now as they did a year ago when they were in the spotlight.
So, rather than it being a case of franchises dropping untested players, it is a strategy to also buy back the good ones while leaving their purses fat enough. Some smart retentions and trades have made this period before the auctions an interesting one. It has shown the change in mindset and the thinking of franchises and we might just see one of the best ever auctions in the history of the league on December 19th.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Sajjad Hussain
