Top 5 worst IPL player-releases of the decade

Indian Premier League is one of the biggest T20 cricket league across the globe. It features some of the biggest and high-profile cricketers that have earned their reputation in the shorter format. Also, there are many domestic cricketers have successfully managed to hit the spotlight by performing well in the league.

In this cash-rich tournament, a lot of things that are kept on a stake including the money of owners and players’ career. Every year the auction is held ahead of the commencement of the tournament where the team management of every side splurges hefty amount on the players to acquire their services. But, sometimes their move backfires as the player they bought fails to perform during the matches.

It is a well-known fact that the franchises are quite short of patience due to which they sometimes release players who fail to perform for their side. On several occasions in the last decade, it has been witnessed that those unsuccessful players get picked up by some other teams and they surprisingly start performing well for the new owners. And, the old teams are left with no option but to regret their decision.

Here are the five worst IPL releases of the decade:

1. David Warner

The left-handed Aussie opener made his IPL debut for Delhi Daredevils now known as Delhi Capitals. And, he went onto play for them in as many as five seasons before he was released into the auction pool in 2014. During his time with the Delhi-based franchise, he played 55 games in which he managed to score 1435 runs with 10 half-centuries and two tons.

Later on, Sunrisers Hyderabad bought Warner in IPL 2014 auction at a whopping fee of 8.80 crores INR. There were questions raised that if the Aussie cricketer will be able to perform well in the tournament. However, Warner proved his critics wrong with his exceptional performances with the bat. Warner also played a vital role in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s triumph in 2016 as he amassed 560 runs in 14 games for his side in the same season.

Moreover, he has been consistently performing well since his arrival and he is currently the fourth all-time leading run-scorer in IPL with 4706 runs at a brilliant strike rate of 142.39 with 4 tons and 44 half-centuries. He turned out to be the best move for Sunrisers Hyderabad as Warner proved to be worth for every single penny that he has been given by the team owners. He has also clinched orange cap thrice in the T20 tournament- 2015, 2017 and 2019.