5 Released players who can be million-dollar babies in IPL 2021 Auction

The IPL auctions are almost knocking at our doors and all the experts have started their predictions regarding which franchise will go for which players. Each and every year, there are many players who go under the hammer and their dreams are fulfilled when they are picked to play for any franchise. This year though, the auction will be a little bit different as it won’t have all the players going under the hammer. Only the players who haven’t yet been picked by any team and the ones who have been released from the previous will be auctioned. 

Recently, all the teams submitted their list of released players to the organisers of the cash-rich leagues. And it was obvious that some eyebrows would be raised in the mean process. However, one team’s loss can be another team’s profit when it comes to the auctions. There are some of those released players who will get a serious look-in during the auction from the other franchises. However, there are some players who might just go for huge money, even become millionaires in that process. 

 5 released players who can be million-dollar babies in the IPL 2021 auctions

1. Mujeeb Ur Rahman

The 19-year-old had made a lot of headlines when he arrived at the Kings XI Punjab franchise in the 2018 IPL. Along with Ravichandran Ashwin, Mujeeb had created a strong partnership and was impressing everyone. But, towards the end of that season, it was almost like his mystery was found and he became less and less effective. The next two seasons saw the same story unfolding, but finally ahead of 2021, he was released. 

Even though his recent track record in the IPL, isn’t something that will impress anyone but his T20 numbers, in general, are too good to be ignored. Like some of his other Afghan teammates, Mujeeb is a well-travelled cricketer and he can be a threat to any batsman. 

Kings XI had bought the young spinner for INR 4.0 crore after bidding war with Delhi. After his recent performances in the BBL 2020-21 season, there are high chances that his name will fetch high numbers, as high as a million dollars. 

2. Steve Smith

A lot of people were shocked when Steve Smith was released by the Rajasthan Royals ahead of the IPL auctions. The Jaipur-based franchise announced that they will hand over the captaincy to the young Sanju Samson, who has been with the franchise for a long time. 

The Australian batsman had led the Royals’ franchise with a lot of fierceness and helped to be in the race of the playoffs until the last days in the previous season. However, Smith’s greatness as a batsman has not quite reflected upon his performances in T20 cricket. He’s still a great batsman but his numbers in the shortest format don’t justify that. 

In the ODI series at home against India, he showed what a remarkable hard-hitting batsman he can be. He scored two centuries, both of which came at a strike rate in excess of 160. In addition, Smith adds a lot as a player in the side. He is an exceptional batsman, brilliant fielder and also brings in all the experience along with leadership skills. There are high chances that more than a franchise will target him and try to get him in. All we can expect for now is a strong bidding war for him. 

3. Aaron Finch

The Australian limited-overs captain has played for no less than eight franchises in the IPL. In 2020, he was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore. However, the conditions in the UAE didn’t favour the Australian batsman. He didn’t get a lot of runs and midway through the season, he was dropped from the team as well. 

But, everyone would have thought that he would be retained in the squad for his experience and his T20 record. Now that he has been released, his services can be used from any other team. Among the teams which are there in the league currently, only CSK and KKR have never made him a part of their side. 

The reason why he could fetch a huge amount in the league is his ability to add value to the side. He is an explosive T20 batsman along with that he adds value as a leader too. In T20s, he has more than 9500 runs and his ability to bat at the top order and score runs regularly makes him a viable buy for any IPL team. It won’t be surprising if we see several teams going for him when his name pops up during the auction pool. 

4. Chris Morris

The South African pacer had fetched a whopping INR 10 crore during the IPL auctions last year. His performance as a bowler was also quite good but probably the franchise that had picked him, Royal Challengers Bangalore, felt that his price didn’t justify his performances. They decided to let him go. 

However, what Chris Morris adds to a T20 side hasn’t changed in a year’s time. He is still quite fast, he bowls good yorkers, he has experience of playing T20 cricket for a long time. In addition to that, he can also tonk the ball and hit a few sixes when required. In total, he is a complete player suited for playing T20 cricket and can be termed as a bowling all-rounder. 

With the teams more focused on having players who can contribute in many ways, Morris seems like one of the hot picks at the auctions this year. His IPL record is also good, with a bowling strike rate of 18 and batting strike rate of 160. Let’s say it won’t be too surprising if Morris gets more than a million dollars once again in the auctions of IPL, which he has been doing for a few years now. 

5. Shivam Dube

The way Shivam Dube was being handled initially, it almost felt like he was being taken care of, cautiously because of his exploits in the domestic circuit. Dube is a hard-hitting batsman who bowls medium pace. A combination of something which is always in high demand when it comes to T20 cricket. 

The Mumbai all-rounder didn’t have the right kind of opportunities in his first season in the IPL. However, in 2020, he got a good start with the bat and the ball. He has shown what he is capable of with the bat and with the ball. But, RCB didn’t use his abilities to change their momentum in the league. 

Now, with him being released from RCB, there would be more than a few teams who would want to invest in him. Dube has made giant strides in domestic cricket, ever since he made his debut. He has played T20 cricket for India as well. With all that in mind, there is no doubt that he will be picked by a franchise, but we are expecting that he will be going for big money this season.