All IPL franchises announced the list of players they have released before IPL 2021 auctions on 20th January. Since there is only one year left before the mega-auctions, most teams took calculative steps in terminating the contracts of their players. Of course, there were a few teams that over-reacted and a couple of them that under-reacted.
With the talk of two new teams joining IPL in 2022, there has been discussion regarding whether the talent pool would be sufficient to maintain the competitive spirit. An intelligent way to measure this is to see if a strong XI can be constituted of players who were released recently. In this article, we talk about one of the strongest XI’s that can be formed out of the released cricketers.
Note: We have followed the IPL rule of having only four overseas players in the playing XI.
Openers: Aaron Finch and Karun Nair
Aaron Finch struggled for RCB last season. He looked out of touch and did not offer much to the team. Although many felt that the management would give him a second chance, RCB has decided against it. Finch is still one of the best batsmen in limited-overs, and there are likely to be suitors for him.
Karun Nair is way off track in his career. He needs something to click for him, and maybe moving to a different franchise could help. At the same time, it would not be a surprise if he goes unsold as well. His case will be curiously observed in the coming weeks.
Middle-Order: Steve Smith (C), Glenn Maxwell and Kedar Jadhav (WK)
We have a trio of players who flopped big time at IPL 2020. Well, we cannot say that about Steve Smith though. He was adequate last season but not fulfilling his stature as a world-class batsman. RR might yet go back for him at a lower price. Teams like KXIP and KKR could also think about bidding for the star cricketer.
Glenn Maxwell’s IPL form is woeful, but for Australia, he has been enormous. Unless he voluntarily pulls out, Maxwell will surely find another franchise. Will that be for a big sum again is a matter of interest.
Kedar Jadhav will keep wickets for this side. He has done this in the past, and might think of taking up the responsibility again. That will reduce pressure on his batting and could help him rediscover his form.
All-Rounders: Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, and K Gowtham
RCB is one franchise that surprised the most with its decisions. They retained only 12 players and released some important cricketers as well. Shivam Dube was one of them. He was finding feet in the franchise but has been cut short of his chances with this move. Many teams will now target the big-hitting all-rounder for next season.
Morris is injured, and that could have been the reason behind his exclusion. If he is fit, RCB could go back to South African. K Gowtham was underused last season. He might want to set his IPL career back on track. Many teams could also be interested in him.
Bowlers: Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh and Umesh Yadav
Piyush Chawla and Harbhajan could struggle to find a contract next season. Especially Bhajji, who has been very inactive in recent years. These two former CSK boys will lead the spin attack of this playing XI. They are experienced, wily, and have the skills to make a strong return next season. The same is the case with Umesh Yadav, who was very poor in UAE. He will have to improve his bowling soon to have any chance of earning a contract at the auctions.
