Kings XI Punjab release 3 players after outrage from benched players

The Kings XI Punjab have released three players from their squad following a disappointed tweet by one of their bowlers, Shardul Thakur. On the eve of their clash with the Delhi Daredevils at home, the Kings XI pacer Shardul Thakur had tweeted his plan of playing for his club team after being perennially ignored by the Kings XI team management.

He had also sarcastically mocked the IPL for promoting talent. His disappointment was attributed to the fact that Shardul Thakur has been benched by his franchise this season so far. He had tweeted, “Will play a semi-final T20 game tomorrow for my club payyade sc..playing a game after two months. IPL has done wonders .. Certainly.” He later deleted his tweet.

Now the Kings XI head coach announced that three players, Armaan Jaffer, Pardeep Sahu and Shardul Thakur, have been released from the squad.

Thakur and Jaffer did not get a chance to play any match while Sahu played five matches this season with little success. KXIP coach defended this move by citing that the players will have a chance to play in other tournaments instead of warming the bench here.

Coach Sanjay Bangar further sympathized with young pacer Shardul and said such things can affect the morale of the player. He cited his own example to explain this. He said, “I was 31-32 by then, and had played for India, but I was still hurt after being asked to go back home. For a youngster like Thakur, this can be extremely difficult to deal with. He’s an India prospect, has played for India `A,’ and by doing this to him, you’re sending him the signal that he isn’t wanted in the scheme of things for your team.”

“It can be tough for the self-esteem of a player. People come to know that you are at ‘home’ when you should be a part of the IPL. You tend to think: `why did they buy me when they didn’t want me in the first place?’ You are entitled to feel bad. I think the Board must stop this. The Governing Council must make a rule that you have to carry the players throughout the IPL,” he said further.

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