IPL 2018: Players franchises should not retain

The list of players retained for the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was recently released by the franchises. While some teams opted to retain three, a few held on to two and some opted for a solitary player. The teams now have another chance to keep their player using the Right To Match (RTM) card. The retention has increased the excitement for the upcoming IPL 2018 auction which is scheduled for 27, 28 January.

With Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals making a comeback in this year’s IPL, it was expected that they would want to sign up the nucleus of their team that played in 2015. While CSK have done that retaining MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja, RR opted just for Steve Smith. While a few teams are spoilt for choice some need to be careful and not fall for retaining a player that wouldn’t add as much value.

Let’s take a look at the 5 high-profile cricketers who should not be retained by their respective franchises out of the existing 6 currently:

1. Kolkata Knight Riders

Darren Bravo, Surya Kumar Yadav, Colin de Grandhomme, Trent Boult and Piyush Chawla are the five big names who we believe should not be retained by the Kolkata Knight Riders for the upcoming IPL auction.

Bravo was considered a highly impressive prospect at the start of his career due to the similarities in his game-play with legendary West Indian cricketer Brian Lara. However, the 28-year-old was largely relegated to the sidelines last season and scored just 6 runs in the sole match he was involved in. Having failed to make a lasting impression with his performances, it will not be wise to retain the West Indian at any cost.

Yadav and Grandhomme are examples of players who failed to make an impact for the Knight Riders in-spite of enjoying a solid reputation on the back of impressive domestic performances. Yadav managed to muster simply 105 runs in 10 matches while Grandhomme fared no better scoring 126 runs in 12 matches.

Trent Boult was someone who enjoyed the confidence of captain Gautam Gambhir and was purchased for a high price of 5 crores.  5 wickets in 6 matches certainly indicate that he was not worthy of the sum paid and is certainly not worth being retained.

Piyush Chawla has been a top performer for the Knight Riders in the past but his performance last season in the IPL where he picked just 6 wickets in 6 games at a high economy rate of 8.95 make him unsuitable for retention.