Ranking all 8 teams based on their retentions ahead of IPL 2021 auction

Now, when the word IPL is uttered, the immediate correlating phrase that a cricket fan would probably utter is the word auction. The hammer will be brought out in February 2021, and the various IPL franchises would be looking to bolster their respective squads. All the 8 IPL franchises have released and retained their set of players ahead of the auctions.

Now, some really big names were released by the franchises ahead of the auctions. The likes of Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Chris Morris and Aaron Finch were all let go by their respective franchises. It will be interesting to see if they get any bids in the auctions.

Also, while the Royal Challengers Bangalore side released a whopping 10 players, the Kolkata and Hyderabad sides were more prudent, releasing only five players each. On that note, let us rank the various IPL teams based on the retentions that they made ahead of the 2021 edition of the IPL.

8. Royal Challengers Bangalore

They have been perennial underachievers. While they have always got some marquee names, they are yet to win the IPL title. And, in a desperate bid to strengthen their squad so to say, RCB have released as many as 10 players ahead of the auctions.

Now, yet again, the bowling appears to be the weakling here for RCB. They do not have any experienced pacer who can be effective at the death, a passage of play where RCB have a habit of leaking heaps of runs. They have retained just three pacers- Mohammad Siraj, Navdeep Saini, and Kane Richardson.

And, Saini endured a disastrous tournament last year. In the 13 matches that the pacer played in the 2020 IPL edition, he could pick up just 6 wickets, at an abysmal average of 63.17 and an economy rate of 8.30. Kane Richardson did not feature in even a single match last year. And, even though Mohammed Siraj’s heroics in the Test series against Australia are highly talked about, he is a bowler who has not been tested enough. In fact, the two bowlers who can be a real asset to the side and have been retained are Yuzvendra Chahal and of course, the ever-improving Washington Sundar.

Even if RCB have their regular batting heavyweights like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers and a highly promising batsman in Devdutt Padikkal, the bowling might once again prove to be their Achilles heel as far as the retentions are concerned. RCB should really look to bolster the bowling department in the upcoming auctions.