The Indian Premier League (IPL) teams have announced their retained and released players ahead of the December 23 IPL auction. From a West Indies perspective, Nicholas Pooran, Jason Holder, Odean Smith, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen and Dwayne Bravo are among the big names released from the teams they played for in the 2022 IPL season.
Among the notable retentions for West Indies players are Sunil Narine (KKR), Andre Russell (KKR), Rovman Powell (DC), Alzarri Joseph (GT), Shimron Hetmyer (RR), Obed McCoy and Kyle Mayers (LSG). See the full list below:
Delhi Capitals go for stability – full info
Capitals release two back-up keepers in Seifert and Bharat.
Players released: Shardul Thakur, Tim Seifert, Ashwin Hebbar, KS Bharat, Mandeep Singh
Players acquired via trades: Aman Khan
Purse remaining: INR 19.45 crore
Overseas slots remaining – 2
Current squad: Rishabh Pant (C), David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Ripal Patel, Rovman Powell, Sarfaraz Khan, Yash Dhull, Mitchell Marsh, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Anrich Nortje, Chetan Sakariya, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Khaleel Ahmed, Lungi Ngidi, Mustafizur Rahman, Aman Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Praveen Dubey, Vicky Ostwal
No big surprise from Rajasthan Royals
Royals keep their core together.
Players released: Anunay Singh, Corbin Bosch, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Karun Nair, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen, Shubham Garhwal, Tejas Baroka
Players acquired via trades: NA
Purse remaining: INR 13.2 crore
Overseas slots remaining: 4
Current squad: Sanju Samson (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Jos Buttler, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Prasidh Krishna, Trent Boult, Obed McCoy, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen, Kuldip Yadav, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, KC Cariappa
RCB keep it simple – full squad out
Rutherford the only real big name that RCB let go of.
Players released: Jason Behrendorff, Aneeshwar Gautam, Chama Milind, Luvnith Sisodia, Sherfane Rutherford
Players acquired via trades: NA
Purse remaining: INR 8.75 crore
Overseas slots remaining: 2
Current squad: Faf du Plessis (capt), Virat Kohli, Suyash Prabhudessai, Rajat Patidar, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat, Finn Allen, Glenn Maxwell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, David Willey, Karn Sharma, Mahipal Lomror, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood, Siddarth Kaul, Akash Deep
Lucknow Super Giants – no Holder, Pandey (and more news)
Players released: Andrew Tye, Ankit Rajpoot, Dushmantha Chameera, Evin Lewis, Jason Holder, Manish Pandey, Shahbaz Nadeem
Players acquired via trades: NA
Purse remaining: INR 23.35 crore
Overseas slots remaining: 4
Current squad: KL Rahul (capt), Ayush Badoni, Karan Sharma, Manan Vohra, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Krishnappa Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Kyle Mayers, Krunal Pandya, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Mark Wood, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi
Champions Gujarat Titans – complete list
Players released: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Lockie Ferguson, Dominic Drakes, Gurkeerat Singh, Jason Roy, Varun Aaron
Players acquired via trades: NA
Purse remaining: INR 19.25
Overseas slots remaining – 3
Current squad: Hardik Pandya (capt), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudharsan, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, R Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad
Summary: Expectedly, the defending champions Titans have not tinkered much. And why would they, considering it was that very team that helped them to a title in their very first season. Six players have been released, but the core of Pandya, Miller, Rashid, Shami, Gill among others, remains. Betting on another successful season? Remember, they can still acquire three foreigners, with INR 19.25 in hand. Only one way up for this squad that on paper look like a misfit but on the field play dangerous cricket.
KKR – the complete update
Hales opts out, Rahane among many domestic players to be released.
Players released: Pat Cummins, Sam Billings, Aman Khan, Shivam Mavi, Mohammad Nabi, Chamika Karunaratne, Aaron Finch, Alex Hales, Abhijeet Tomar, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Sharma, Baba Indrajith, Pratham Singh, Ramesh Kumar, Rasikh Salam, Sheldon Jackson
Players acquired via trades: Shardul Thakur, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Lockie Ferguson
Purse remaining: INR 7.05 crore
Overseas slots remaining: 3
Current squad: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh
In summary, Knight Riders have let go of an entire bunch of players but they still have a lot to show: mystery spinners Narine and Chakravarthy are always handy, and where newly-acquired Thakur’s change of pace and cutters could play a role too. But most importantly, how long before Russell regains his touch for them? Plus, they will need some very good top-order options too with Hales, Finch, Rahane gone. Ferguson is a direct Cummins replacement you’d have to think.
Punjab Kings – the deets
Power-packed Punjab pack a punch despite big names released.
Players released: Mayank Agarwal, Odean Smith, Vaibhav Arora, Benny Howell, Ishan Porel, Ansh Patel, Prerak Mankad, Sandeep Sharma, Writtick Chatterjee
Players acquired via trades: NA
Purse remaining: INR 32.2 crore
Overseas slots remaining: 3
Current squad: Shikhar Dhawan (capt), Shahrukh Khan, Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar
To summarise, Kings have stuck to a batting-heavy line-up: Bairstow, Rajapaksa and Livingstone still remain for them. Releasing Agarwal possibly means Bairstow opening with Dhawan – dynamic and one that complements each other. Talk of their bowling, and they boast of Arshdeep and Rabada, with the former coming off a very successful stint with India. A massive INR 32.2 cr remains in their purse, with three foreign players to add. Expect them to go shopping next month.
Chennai Super Kings announce retentions
No real surprise apart from Bravo and England death-overs specialist Chris Jordan. Robin Uthappa had retired after last season. Jadeja, despite what rumour mills suggest, stays. Of course he stays!
Players released: Dwayne Bravo, Robin Uthappa, Adam Milne, Hari Nishaanth, Chris Jordan, Bhagath Varma, KM Asif, Narayan Jagadeesan
Players acquired via trades: NA
Purse remaining: INR 20.45
Overseas slots remaining: 2
Current squad: MS Dhoni (capt), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Chowdhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Deepak Chahar, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana
In summary: It could be another season of surprise from Super Kings; they have, you could say, already thrown one in by releasing Bravo. The days of Raina are gone too, but take a look at the variety in this bunch of players: Dhoni, Conway, Moeen, Gaikwad, Jadeja, Theekshana, among others. Toss the ball to Super Kings, and expect something big already, especially with two overseas slots left. They’ve kept a whole bunch of spinners with IPL 2023 returning to home-and-away format and Chepauk being awesome for spinners.
Sunrisers Hyderabad – the lowdown
Williamson and Pooran, as confirmed earlier, lead Sunrisers’ 12-man exodus.
Players released: Kane Williamson, Nicholas Pooran, Jagadeesha Suchith, Priyam Garg, Ravikumar Samarth, Romario Shepherd, Saurabh Dubey, Sean Abbott, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Sushant Mishra, Vishnu Vinod
Players acquired via trades: NA
Purse remaining: INR 42.25 crore
Overseas slots remaining: 4
Current squad: Abdul Samad, Aiden Markram, Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, Abhishek Sharma, Marco Jansen, Washington Sundar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kartik Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik
In summary, they have more than a few headaches. Four overseas slots to fill in the XI and the headache of appointing a new leader. Right now, it looks like a typical Sunrisers squad: mostly of youngsters, and one which is pace heavy. Will they gamble with a young captain (say a Washington Sundar or Abhishek Sharma(!)) or is this the team for Mayank Agarwal? Speaking of Abhishek, who is a Ranji captain by the way, in this interview to ESPNcricinfo, he had recently said that the great Brian Lara influenced him a lot when they paired up at Sunrisers. “Lara sir and I had a very good tuning too. We always talk about cricket, and when there is a match going on, we text each other to discuss how someone is batting”.
Mumbai drop 13 players, many of them fast-bowling options. And Pollard.
Players released: Kieron Pollard, Anmolpreet Singh, Aryan Juyal, Basil Thampi, Daniel Sams, Fabian Allen, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Murugan Ashwin, Rahul Buddhi, Riley Meredith, Sanjay Yadav, Tymal Mills
Players acquired via trades: Jason Behrendorff
Purse remaining: INR 20.55 crore
Overseas slots remaining: 3
Current squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Tim David, Ramandeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Jofra Archer, Jasprit Bumrah, Arjun Tendulkar, Arshad Khan, Kumar Kartikeya, Hrithik Shokeen, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal
In summary: Mumbai Indians, who had a poor season in 2022, will be entering the upcoming season with a blend of experience and fresh faces: in Rohit, Kishan and Suryakumar they have retained their core with the bat, while in releasing a bunch of players, they have signalled their intention to sign up new names as they try to rebuild. (Modified from ESPN Cricinfo)