IPL 2021: Best XI from the released players

With IPL 2021 auctions set to take place next month, all eight franchises have released their comprehensive list of released and retained players.A lot of obvious decisions has taken place with respect to retaining and releasing players are now out in the open. The franchises have surprised many fans by the likes of players that they have decided to release. Many prominent names like Aaron Finch, Steve Smith, Alex carey and Lasith Malinga have been shown the exit door by their respective franchises. Best XI from the released players in IPL 2021 retention 1. Aaron Finch Aaron Finch. (Photo Source: Twitter) Being drafted into the side in 2020, Aaron Finch has been released by his current IPL franchise, Royal challengers Bangalore, ahead of the IPL 2021 auction. With Finch being released, Bangalore will now have to fill the void left by Aaron finch in the upcoming IPL 2021 auction. Australian captain, Aaron Finch, was bagged by RCB for 4.4 crores to solve their opening woes. However Finch didn’t do any justice with his performance and was the biggest disappointment for RCB in the last season. The former managed to score just 268 runs in 12 innings at a below-par average of 22.33. In his tally of 264 runs in 12 innings, Finch scored only one fifty-plus score. With Aaron Finch not being there, RCB can go with the likes of Joshua Philippe or Skipper, Virat Kohli, at the top of the order alongside Devdutt Padikkal. RCB can also go for an explosive opener like Jason Roy or youngster Tom Banton to fill in the shoes of Aaron Finch. 2. Murali Vijay Murali Vijay. (Photo: IANS) Murali Vijay was bought by Chennai super kings in 2008. Vijay was again bought by CSK in 2018 at base price of 2 crore. However since 2018, Murali Vijay has more often been considered as a backup opener in the CSK squad. With Vijay being released, Chennai will now have to look out for an backup opener in the upcoming IPL 2021 auction. In the limited opportunity Vijay got in IPL 2020, he failed to set stage on fire as the former could only manage 32 runs from 3 innings at a bizzare strike rate of 74.4. With Vijay not performing and age being another factor, it was expected that CSK management would release 36-year-old right handed batsman. However with Murali Vijay being released and Shane Watson also retired, CSK can go with the likes of Ambati Rayudu or Sam Curran at the top of the order alongside Faf Du plessis. CSK management will look to strengthen their top order in the upcoming IPL 2021 auction. 3. Steve Smith (C) Steve Smith. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Rajasthan Royals has released one of their pillars, skipper Steve Smith, ahead of the IPL 2021 auction. However with Steve Smith being released, Sanju Samson has been appointed as the new skipper of the Rajasthan based franchise. But the franchise will have to fill the spot left by premier Australian batman, Steve Smith, in the upcoming IPL 2021 auction. Steve Smith who took charge from Ajinkya Rahane in the middle of the season in 2019 – has failed to live up to his expectations. The former RR player scored just 311 runs from 14 games in the last season as the franchise finished eighth on the points table. Smith has played 95 IPL matches and has scored 2333 runs at 35.34 with one century and 11 half-centuries. 4. Karun Nair Karun Nair (Photo Source: Twitter) Karun Nair who had been a part of the Kings XI Punjab’s squad since the last three seasons was released by the franchise. With Nair being released Kings XI Punjab will look to strengthen their middle order in the upcoming IPL 2021 auction. Karun Nair was one of the biggest flops of last season as Karnataka born failed drastically and was played in only 4 matches, and in that, he could only manage 16 runs at a Strike Rate of 114. However after being drafted into the side at the whooping price 5.6 crores in 2018 and being retained for the next two seasons, KL Rahul-led side has finally shown him the exit door for the upcoming IPL season. Nair has played 73 IPL games in which he has scored 1480 runs at a strike rate of 128.4. 5. Alex Carey (WK) Alex Carey. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Alex Carey’s omission from the Delhi capitals squad didn’t come as much of a surprise. With Carey’s absence Delhi capitals will have only one wicket-keeper, Rishabh pant, however in the upcoming IPL 2021 auction, the Delhi based franchise will look to add backup wicket-keeper in their side. On the basis of the great Big bash and International record, Australia’s first choice wicket-Keeper was drafted into the Delhi capitals side at the price of 2.4 crores. Alex Carey unfortunately failed to make an impact on the Delhi capitals in the 2020 IPL as the former scored only 32 runs in the three-matches he played. Having amassed 1443 runs in 44 innings at the strike rate of 127.25 in BBL, the southpaw is expected to grab lot of attention in the upcoming IPL 2021 auction. 6. Kedar Jadhav Kedar Jadhav. (Photo Source: Twitter) After joining CSK for Rs 7.8 crore in IPL 2018 mega-auction, Kedar Jadhav has finally been released from the Chennai Super Kings squad ahead of the upcoming 2021 IPL auction. Jadhav’s omission from the squad will leave Chennai Super Kings in a void as they will look to grab a dependable middle order batsman in the upcoming auction. The heart-throb of all CSK fans and the worst performer of IPL 2020, Kedar Jadhav’s exclusion from the squad was on the cards. Jadhav has been a poor performer since IPL 2019 for CSK having scored 224 runs from 12 innings a poor strike rate of 95.3. However poorest of the performance came in the last season as the former scored only 62 runs in the 8 matches he played and did not even hit a six. With Kedar Jadhav not being there, CSK will try to strengthen their middle order and can go for No.1 T20I batsman, David Malan, and Glenn Maxwell. However on the other hand, Kedar Jadhav on account of the red hot form in ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy can attract franchise to bid for him in the upcoming IPL 2021 auction. 7. Shivam Dube Shivam Dube. (Photo Source: Twitter) Shivam Dube, who’s currently playing Syed Mushtaq trophy, has been released by Royal challenger Bangalore ahead of the IPL 2021 auctions. After hitting five sixes in as many balls in Ranji trophy 2018, RCB side bagged the explosive all-rounder at whooping price of 5 crores. With RCB releasing Shivam Dube, Chris Morris and Mooen Ali they will look to fill the spot of an all-rounder in the upcoming auction. The Mumbaikar didn’t got much chance in 2019 IPL as he played only four-matches and managed to score just 40 runs. However it was an underwhelming performance by the former in the last season, which took place in UAE, he did play couple of cameos but managed to score only 129 runs with bat in 11 matches he played, and scalped 4 wickets with ball at an average of 18.42. In his IPL career of 15 matches, Shivam Dube has managed to score only 169 runs at an average of 16.9, while with ball, the former has scalped only 4 wickets at a handy economy of 7.59. However with his abilities to hit big sixes and contribute with the ball the 27-year-old all-rounder could be picked up in the upcoming IPL 2021 Auction. 8. Harbhajan Singh Harbhajan Singh (Photo: IANS) After being drafted into CSK’s side in 2018 for 2 crores, former Indian off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh, was one of the first Indian players to be release by IPL franchise. With Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla not being available, Chennai based franchise has a big task ahead of them as they will look to strengthen their spin department in upcoming IPL 2021 auctions. Harbhajan Singh was one of the two CSK players along with Suresh Raina who chose to skip the 13th edition of the IPL in UAE due to COVID-19 restrictions. However in the 2019 season, Harbhajan was immersive with ball as he picked up 16 wickets from 11 games at an average of 19.5. In 160 IPL games in his career, Harbhajan managed to pick up 150 wickets at an impressive average of 26.44 with a brilliant economy rate of 7.05 in his career. The 40-year-old, who won the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup and the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup for India, has a fair chance of getting sold in upcoming IPL 2021 auction. 9. Piyush Chawla Piyush Chawla. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Veteran Chawla was also shown the exit door by the Chennai super kings ahead of the upcoming IPL auction. Chawla claimed 6 wickets in 7 games he played for CSK last season and was subsequently released by them. However with Piyush Chawla not being there, CSK will look to grab handy leg spinners in the upcoming IPL 2021 auction. The 32-year-old has an abundance of experience in international as well as domestic cricket. The leg-spinner’s IPL record has also been phenomenal. The former is the second highest wicket taker of the IPL with 156 scalps to his name at an average of 7.87. Chawla played in the IPL for the Kings XI Punjab team from 2008 to 2013 and then for KKR in 2014. He has had a successful time with both KXIP and KKR. Piyush Chawla is expected to be picked up by several IPL franchises as a handy leg-spinner in middle-overs. 10. Lasith Malinga Lasith Malinga. (Photo: IANS) Five time IPL champions, Mumbai Indians, have parted ways with veteran Sri Lankan pacer and have decided to release their star pacer, Lasith Malinga, ahead of the upcoming IPL 2021 auctions. The pacer has taken retirement from the franchise cricket and had informed the Mumbai franchise about his plan earlier this month. Lasith Malinga was supposed to play in the last season which took place in the bio-secure bubble of the United Arab Emirates. However, he pulled out of the season due to personal reasons. His services however were not missed but Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah filled his boots well to help the Rohit Sharma-led unit bag a record fifth title. Veteran Sri Lankan pacer is the most successful bowler the cash-rich league, in 122 IPL games, Malinga has bagged 170 wickets to his name at an average of 19.80 and an economy rate of 7.14. 11. Umesh Yadav Umesh Yadav of Royal Challengers Bangalore in action. (Photo by IANS) In what seemed to be a clear call after repeated failures, Royal challengers Bangalore have finally released Umesh Yadav before the IPL 2021 auctions. However, with Umesh Yadav being released, Royals challengers Bangalore will look to strength their pace bowling department, which have always been the matter of concern. Umesh Yadav has been a vital part of the Indian fast bowling attack in Test cricket. He was once a regular fixture in the white-ball squads too, but the pacer could not retain his place for an extended period because of his high economy rate. RCB showed faith in him even after he failed in IPL 2019 as he had an economy of 9.81. Unfortunately, Umesh Yadav’s performance got worse as he gave away runs at a economy rate of 11.86 per over in the last season and failed to scalp even a single wicket. In 121 IPL games in his career, Umesh Yadav has bagged 119 wickets to his name at an average of 30.07. However owing to his vast experience, the 33-years-old pacer could be picked up in the upcoming IPL 2021 Auction.

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IPL 2021: Best XI from the released players

The mini auctions for IPL 2021 will get on tables in February.

5. Alex Carey (WK)

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