New Delhi: Kings XI Punjab on Thursday parted ways with local boy and India’s 2011 World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh along with eight other players that include Australia’s limited overs skipper Aaron Finch, ahead of the IPL auction next month.
The Punjab franchise have retained only nine players, that include captain Ravichandran Ashwin, their fiery opening duo Chris Gayle and Lokesh Rahul and their bowling spearheads in Andrew Tye and Mujeen Ur Rahman. The team has meanwhile, traded Marcus Stoinis for local boy Mandeep Singh.
Besides Yuvraj and Finch, left-arm-spinner Axar Patel is another name on the released list of the players. Interestingly. Axar was the only player to be retained by the team that was completely rejigged in 2017.
The other released players are Mohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Barinder Sran, Akshdeep Nath, Pradeep Sahoo, Mayank Dagar and Manzoor.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) released Mitchell Johnson, Tom Curran, Cameron Delport and Javon Searles ahead of the auction, the franchise announced on Thursday.
Apoorv Wankhede, Vinay Kumar and Ishank Jaggi were the Indian players released from the side as the franchise retained its core and a total of 13 players.
Kuldeep Yadav, Robin Uthappa and Piyush Chawla will continue their association with the purple brigade. Overseas stars like Chris Lynn, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine have also been retained. Youngsters Shubman Gill, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna and Nitish Rana also find a spot in the squad with Rinku Singh.
Meanwhile, Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday retained banned Australian opener David Warner for the upcoming season of the IPL while releasing India’s Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha.
Besides Saha, the others to face the axe are Englishmen Alex Hales and Chris Jordan, and West Indian T20I captain Carlos Brathwaite.
In addition to Warner, SRH also retained six overseas players in Billy Stanlake, Kane Williamson and the all-round trio of Shakib Al Hasan, Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi.
Delhi Daredevils on Thursday retained a young side comprising the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant while releasing Gautam Gambhir, Glenn Maxwell and pacer Mohammed Shami.
Besides Gambhir, Maxwell and Shami, Australian quick Dan Christian was also released from the squad. Delhi bought local boy Dhawan for Rs 5.2 crore from Sunrisers Hyderabad and in return gave them all-rounder Shankar (Rs 3.2 crore), U-19 batsman Abhishek Sharma (Rs 55 lakh) and left-arm spinner Nadeem (Rs 3.2 crore).
Iyer took over Delhi’s captaincy from Gambhir midway into the 2018 IPL, after the veteran southpaw decided to step down following another dismal season.
Besides the trio of Iyer, Shaw and Pant, the other players retained in the Delhi squad are Manjot Kalra, Colin Munro, Chris Morris, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Harshal Patel, Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult, Sandeep Lamichhane and Avesh Khan.
Rajasthan Royals on Thursday retained banned former Australian skipper Steve Smith while releasing their costliest buy last season — pacer Jaydev Unadkat, along with Aussie opener D’Arcy Short, fast-medium bowler Ben Laughlin and South African wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen.
The Royals have retained 16 players including Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jofra Archer and Shreyas Gopal, besides skipper Ajinkya Rahane.
Australia quick Pat Cummins and star Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman are among the 10 players, released by Mumbai Indians ahead of the auction.
The three-time champions have retained 18 players, including the Pandya brothers (Hardik and Krunal), Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande, Aditya Tare, Ishan Kisan, Rahul Chahar, Anukul Roy and Suryakumar Yadav.
The franchise has retained Kieron Pollard, Ben Cutting, destructive opener Evin Lewis and Kiwi pair of Mitchell McClenaghan and Adam Milne.
Rohit Sharma will continue to lead the Mumbai Indians.
Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday released big guns in former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum, all-rounders Corey Anderson and Chris Woakes while welcoming another all-rounder Marcus Stoinis ahead of the IPL auction next month.
The Virat Kohli-led franchise traded in Australian Stoinis for Rs 6.2 crore from the Kings XI Punjab while giving away batsman Mandeep Singh for Rs 1.4 crore. RCB also traded out South African wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock to the Mumbai Indians for Rs 2.8 crore.
Besides the skipper, the franchise retained 13 others, including former Protea captain AB de Villiers and New Zealand quick Tim Southee. The other retained players are Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Kulwant Khejroliya, Parthiv Patel, Pawan Negi, Umesh Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Colin de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali and Nathan Coulter-Nile. (IANS)
