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3 Released Players That Will Generate Interest in IPL 2021 Auction | 3 high-profile releases that teams could go after in the IPL 2021 Auction
The Indian Premier League is a tournament where there is a lot of excitement during the matches as it involves a lot of nail-biting matches. But, building up to the tournament what attracts a lot of eyeballs and attention is the player auction.
Prior to the player auction, the releases and retention are a crucial juncture in the planning of the franchises and this year is no different to it. Some of the IPL teams have made headlines having released high-profile players who can attract high bids when they go under the hammer on February 18 in Chennai.
Here is a glance through some of the big names released by the teams.
Chris Morris
The biggest name on the release list is that of Chris Morris. The Protea all-rounder was bought for a hefty price by the Royal Challengers Bangalore as they splurged 10 crores at the 2020 IPL player auction. Morris has the ability to bowl economically in the death and possess a six-hitting prowess which makes a rare commodity.
He proved his worth as he picked 8 wickets in the death overs in the IPL 2020 at an economy rate of 7.7. He had a strike rate of 161 in the death overs while batting for the 3-time runners-up.
In spite of that, the Virat Kohli-led franchise was sceptical about his fitness issues and didn’t think that he was a value-for-money buy. But given that he can bowl yorkers at will in the death and his hitting ability against pacers, he will be one of the most sought-after players during the auction.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Mujeeb Ur Rehman is considered as one of the best Afghanistan players in this generation. However, the off-spinner hasn’t enjoyed as much success as his Afghan teammate Rashid Khan in the cash rich league and therefore he is released by the KXIP franchise ahead of the 2021 season.
He started off his IPL career on an impressive note as he scalped 14 wickets in 10 innings at an economy rate of 7 RPO. But in the last two seasons, he has picked 3 wickets in 7 matches at an economy rate which exceeds 10 RPO.
He does possess great variations, and usually has a fine economy rate in T20 cricket. Hence, the off-spinner will be on the radar of many teams.
Aaron Finch
Much like his countrymate Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch too has been a player who is always in demand during the player auction. However, he then has a lacklustre IPL season and then gets back to the auction, only to be bought for a huge fee in the auction.
It has been a cycle for a while now and this year is no different. Aaron Finch was bought by RCB for a whopping sum of 4.4 crores as they wanted to have an experienced batsman in the top-order who can share the workload of AB De Villiers and Virat Kohli.
The Australian didn’t quite live up to the billing as he scored just 268 runs in 10 matches at a below-par average of 22. His IPL numbers are significantly worse than his career statistics. His average of 25 in the 8-team league is lower than his career average of 24 and his strike rate was 127 compared to his career T20 strike rate of 141.
So, there are three released players who could generate quite some interest in the IPL 2021 Auction. Do any others come to mind?
Written by Sarthak Karkhanis. Follow Sarthak on Twitter today.
