The IPL, which had to take an abrupt pause came back in our lives with much fanfare. The second leg had commenced in fantastic fashion. It gave us some of the best nail-biting matches and did justice to its billing as one of the most entertaining competitions. The play-offs became the highlight of the tournament with Kolkata Knight Riders scrapping their way up to the finals.
Each game was worthy of the IPL brand. With the finals now having been played and CSK lifting their 4th trophy, this 14th season has come to an end. Franchises have already begun strategizing for the mega auction next year.
The BCCI has already announced in its AGM that two news teams from cities not represented in the IPL yet would join. Tenders are out and it’s only a matter of time before we know who the two owners are. Big businesses, tycoons, MNCs, and individuals from the showbiz industry have all expressed interest in joining the celebrated IPL bandwagon.
The 2022 season will be preceded by a mega-auction. The BCCI has still not come out with the retention and right to match card rules yet but it is sure that a franchise will not be able to retain all of its talents. Only a couple or more would continue as part of the franchise. All players will be released into the auction pool and all teams will have to prepare teams from the scratch and therefore, most teams would have a new look at feel to them.
Hence, naturally, we may not see the IPL legends, who we are accustomed to seeing in one jersey, continue to play in that same jersey. We look at 6 superstars who may be released by their respective franchises.
1. David Warner
With Warner, the writing was already on the wall at the end of the 2021 IPL season. He was relieved of captaincy duties after a few games and subsequently benched. In the UAE leg, he was on the bench most of the time but what confirmed the fact that all was not well with the SRH management and Warner was when he was not traveling with the team for the matches. Warner took to social media about how he was not part of any of the SRH plans. It is certain that he will be released next season. With 7 seasons of 400 or more runs in IPL, Warner is an IPL superstar. His contributions between 2014 and 2019 where he scored more than 550 runs in almost every season cannot be forgotten. He won the trophy for SRH in 2016 and any franchise would love to have him in the leadership position.
2. Kieron Pollard
Pollard has been one of the founding members of the IPL behemoth that Mumbai Indians is today. There are uncountable innings where he has come at the far end of the innings and plundered the opposition with his incredible range hitting. His fielding and energy on the field are two of his greatest talents. However, Mumbai Indians looking at the future may want to retain the likes of younger prospects like Suryakumar and Ishan Kishan. With so many superstars in the MI line-up, it would get impossible for them to have them all. Considering Pollard’s age and other factors, they may release him.
3. KL Rahul
Reports have already started to do the rounds that Rahul has asked Punjab Kings to not retain him next season. He has been captaining the franchise for a while now has been among the top 2 or 3 run-getters in IPL for the past few seasons. However, his performance has not matched the team’s fortunes in the last few seasons. Punjab has struggled to make it to the playoffs and ended up in the bottom half of the table. It seems that Rahul is tired of the stagnation and wants to shift base to another franchise in order to make an overall mark in the IPL.
4. Hardik Pandya
A genuine all-rounder and a true blue Mumbai Indians hero, Pandya has played for the MI franchise all throughout his professional IPL career. He has been their go-to man to close the innings with some towering sixes. He is a livewire on the field and effective at breaking partnerships. However, he has had leaner 2020 and 2021 seasons with the franchise. This is majorly due to his recurring injuries. He has stopped bowling and that has affected his utility as a cricketer. Considering the fact that Mumbai Indians have a wider talent pool to retain from, Pandya may be skipped. He could well be released from the Mumbai camp and grabbed by one of the new franchises with a high possibility of one of them being from Gujarat.
5. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
With Warner, he has been one of the major reasons for SRH’s success over the past few years. He was the purple cap holder for 2016 and 2017. In 2017, SRH had both the orange cap and the purple caps. Bhuvi’s death bowling ability and to bowl full, fast, and swinging yorkers make him one of the most sort after bowlers. He has been marred by injuries and did not have the best 2021 season. With SRH ending the season with the wooden spoon, the management may choose to make wholesale changes to the squad and the veteran pacer may not be part of their future plans.
6. Shreyas Iyer
The star batsman could not have had an injury at a worse time. His stocks in the Indian team, as well as the IPL, were on the rise. He successfully led Delhi Capitals to the finals of IPL last year. However, as luck would have it he got injured before IPL 2021, and Pant was handed the captaincy with whom the franchise has decided to continue. Pant has done well this year and he may be retained by the franchise considering he would be an Indian mainstay for years to come. With DC already bustling with talent and experience, Iyer may just find himself in no man’s land going into the mega-auctions.
