IPL 2024: Rating teams based on their retentions and releases

Before the IPL 2024 auction in Dubai on December 19, all ten IPL franchises confirmed the players they would release and retain. Hardik Pandya was traded from the Gujarat Titans (GT) to his long-time IPL side, the Mumbai Indians (MI), shortly after the retention cut-off time. The ten IPL teams released a total of 81 players on November 26. Punjab Kings was the team releasing the least number of players while Kolkata Knight Riders released the maximum number of players (12). The ten IPL teams retained a total of 174 players. The Punjab Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Chennai Super Kings all kept the most players (19). The Kolkata Knight Riders were the team with the fewest players (13). Let’s see how the 10 franchise teams fared after the IPL 2024 released and retained players deadline ended. Here are the 10 teams rated as per their retentions and releases ahead of the IPL 2024 auction: 1. Punjab Kings- 6/10 Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals. (Photo Source: IPL) Punjab Kings have decided to keep faith in the majority of their players, despite having had yet another poor IPL season in 2023. The franchise decided to retain most of their core players, who performed well for them. Punjab Kings let go of Shahrukh Khan, a player they had invested very heavily in along with Sri Lankan big-hitter Bhanuka Rajapaksa. They retained their most expensive player in Sam Curran and hence will only have INR 24 crores in the IPL 2024 auction purse. Also see: PBKS Released Players ahead of IPL 2024 Auction 2. Sunrisers Hyderabad- 7/10 Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Lucknow Super Giants. (Photo Source: IPL) Sunrisers Hyderabad freed up a huge chunk of money by releasing Harry Brook and a couple of other foreign players Adil Rashid and Akeal Hossein. They have decided to retain their core batting lineup of Mayank Agarwal, Aiden Markram, Rahul Tripathi, Heinrich Klaasen, and Glenn Phillips, which with some smart planning can do wonders for them. Apart from this, they also retained their bowlers like Washington Sundar, Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, and T Natarajan, who have been brilliant, but only here and there. They will hope to bring in some fresh face in middle-order batting and a few good backup pacers. Also see: SRH Released Players ahead of IPL 2024 Auction 3. Rajasthan Royals- 6/10 Rajasthan Royals. (Photo Source: Twitter) The Rajasthan Royals (RR) were one of the most surprising teams to be eliminated last season. Following an outstanding final run in 2022, the team appeared to be on track for a similar outcome, with a 4-1 record after five games. They surprisingly released Jason Holder ahead of the IPL 2024 auction. He had done well with both the bat and the ball and his release was not expected. RR also traded in Avesh Khan to bolster their bowling instead of Devdutt Padikkal, who was struggling to find his spot in the XI. They will want to get a finisher perhaps an all-rounder in the auction. 4. Kolkata Knight Riders- 6.5/10 Kolkata Knight Riders. (Photo Source: IPL) Kolkata Knight Riders made a huge difference to their IPL 2024 auction purse by releasing Shardul Thakur freeing up INR 10.75 crore. They also released a host of pacers like Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee, and Umesh Yadav. Their batting will be bolstered by the return of Shreyas Iyer, who will have support from the likes of Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, and Andre Russell. In the auction, KKR will have a purse of ₹32.70 crore to splurge on buying bowlers and perhaps a handy finisher as well as backup for Russell. They will hope their newly appointed mentor, Gautam Gambhir, can work his magic. 5. Lucknow Super Giants- 6.5/10 Mumbai Indians vs Lucknow Super Giants. (Photo Source: IPL) Lucknow Super Giants had surprisingly traded pacer Avesh Khan to Rajasthan Royals for getting Devdutt Padikkal. In their releases, key players were Daniel Sams, Karun Nair, and Jaydev Unadkat, while they also traded Romario Shepherd to Mumbai Indians. Padikkal strengthens their already impressive batting unit of KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Quinton de Kock, Kyle Mayers, and Ayush Badoni. In the auction, LSG might want to add some experience to their Indian pacer lineup, which looks thin with the names of Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur, Mayank Yadav, and Yudhvir Singh. They still have Mark Wood and Naveen Ul Haq for experience, but they would want to buy a few more pacers in the auction. 6. Delhi Capitals- 6.5/10 Delhi Capitals vs Chennai Super Kings. (Photo Source: IPL) Delhi Capitals let go of their T20 specialists Rilee Rossouw, Rovman Powell, Phil Salt, and Mustafizur Rahman along with Indian talent such as Manish Pandey, Chetan Sakariya, and Sarfaraz Khan. This was a result of their horror run in IPL 2023, where they lost their opening five games and were the first to suffer elimination from playoff contention. Barring David Warner and in the absence of Rishabh Pant, DC batting was exposed and their bowling was poor as well, with Mitchell Marsh finishing as the leading wicket-taker with 12 scalps. With a budget of ₹28.95 crore, DC might want to fill those gaps in their squad and hope that Anrich Nortje regains his fitness ahead of IPL 2024. 7. Gujarat Titans- 7/10 Gujarat Titans. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL) IPL 2022 winners and 2023 finalists Gujarat Titans lost their captain Hardik Pandya to a trade to Mumbai Indians. They also surprisingly let go of Alzarri Joseph, who was their fastest bowler by far. They have named Shubman Gill as their new captain and it remains to be seen how leadership responsibility affects his batting. GT will need to find a new ball partner for Mohammad Shami, after releasing Joseph and also a quick pacer who bowls 150 kph. With Hardik Pandya gone, Gujarat Titans will want to invest in a good all-rounder, or they will have to rely on Rahul Tewatia and Vijay Shankar with the ball. This could prove to be a hindrance. 8. Royal Challengers Bangalore- 7/10 LSG vs RCB. (Photo Source: Twitter) Royal Challengers Bangalore rebooted their bowling lineup as they released Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga, David Willey, Wayne Parnell, and Michael Bracewell. Letting go of Hasaranga and Harshal was explained by coach Andy Flower as a way to expand their purse for the IPL 2024 auction as both of these players cost them INR 10 crore plus. However, they retained the core of their batting and got Cameron Green in trade from MI, which will bolster their middle order and bowling as well. In the auction, they would primarily focus on buying fast bowlers to partner Mohammad Siraj and Reece Topley. The inclusion of Rajat Patidar will help them offset some batting issues in the middle order. Also see: RCB Released Players ahead of IPL 2024 Auction 9. Chennai Super Kings- 8/10 CSK Opening Pair. (Photo Source : BCCI/IPL) Chennai Super Kings freed up a huge sum of money by releasing Ben Stokes, who pulled out of IPL 2024. They also released the overseas trio of Kyle Jamieson, Sisanda Magala, and Dwaine Pretorius, apart from some Indian talent as well. However, they have retained the core who won them the IPL 2023 under MS Dhoni’s captaincy. CSK will need to fill the Ambati Rayudu-sized gap in their middle order and while the return of Mukesh Choudhary is good news, the form of Maheesh Theekshana, and Matheesha Pathirana is a worry. For CSK, the prime focus will be on the bench strength as their starting XI looks good on paper. But the management will focus on some quality pacers to bolster their squad and one major middle-order batter. Also see: CSK Released Players ahead of IPL 2024 Auction 10. Mumbai Indians – 9/10 Mumbai Indians. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL) Mumbai Indians had to do a lot of financial gymnastics to bring back Hardik Pandya into the fold. This meant releasing Jofra Archer and Cameron Green in the process ahead of the IPL 2024 auction. They also released the likes of Duan Jansen, and Tristan Stubbs who warmed the bench for the most time in IPL 2023. The addition of Hardik Pandya has made MI the most balanced squad and they will also have Jasprit Bumrah in the unit as well. In his absence, Akash Madhwal and Jason Behrendorff did very well to help MI to playoffs in IPL 2023. The batting is undeniably the strongest on paper, with Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, and Tim David. They also have Dewald Brevis in the squad, who might play a bigger role this time. MI’s focus in the IPL 2024 auction will be on quality spinners and bench strength. Also Check: List of Retained Players, Released Players of IPL 2024

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IPL 2024: Rating teams based on their retentions and releases

IPL 2024: Rating teams based on their retentions and releases

5. Lucknow Super Giants- 6.5/10

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