These six unretained players can go for big bucks in mega auctions: Check list here

The hype for the next season of Indian Premier League is already sky-high after the franchise retained players on Tuesday ahead of the mega auction. The old franchise got the chance to retain four players from the last seasons as Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders retained four players each, while Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals chose three each. Punjab Kings were the only team to retain just two players.

The retention policies forced the franchise to release their key players which will now go under the hammer if the two new teams didn’t rope them ahead of the auction. Lucknow and Ahmedabad will have 25 days starting December 1 to pick three players. They can spend INR 33 crore each on those three players ahead of the auction. Just like in player retention, this too has a fee break-up: INR 15 crore, INR 11 crore and INR 7 crore for the first, second and third players, respectively. Also, among the three players, two have to be Indian.

Some of the released players are expected to break the bank if they go under the hammer ahead of the next season.

1 David Warner: Sunrisers Hyderabad made a bold decision by releasing David Warner who has been their most consistent run-getter for the past 5 years. Last season there were a lot of speculations that Warner and the franchise had a fall-out off-field and his releasing almost confirmed them. Warner is the fifth-highest run-scorer in the Indian Premier League and leading the charts amongst the overseas players. The Aussie opener also tasted great success as a captain IPL, as he also led SRH to their only title-win in 2016. Several franchises like Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders are in search of a captain.

Matches: 150, Runs: 5449, SR: 139.96,100/50: 4/50

2 KL Rahul: The flamboyant India opener will be on the hit list of every franchise for auction. There are speculations going around that the two new franchises – especially Lucknow are trying to rope him as their captain and build the team around him. If Rahul decides to go under the hammer then it is going to break the bank for the franchise he got picked. Rahul is one of the most prolific run-getter in the past few seasons. The 28-year-old opener provides the extra option for wicketkeeping apart from the captaincy.

Matches: 94, Runs: 3273, SR: 136.37, 100/50: 2/27

3 Shreyas Iyer: Delhi Capitals have parted ways with their former captain as Iyer wanted a leadership role in the camp. There are high chances that the stylish batter might get picked either of one team ahead of the auction to rope him as a leader. He led Delhi to their only IPL final in 2020 season where they suffered defeat to Mumbai, however, an injury in 2021 ruled him out of the first half of IPL, as Rishabh Pant was named captain of Delhi. If Iyer went to the auction then the franchises like Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders are going to break the bank for him.

Matches: 87, Runs: 2375, SR: 123.95, 100/50: 0/16

4 Shikhar Dhawan: The prolific Indian opener didn’t get the appreciation he deserved in the IPL. The southpaw is the second-highest run-getter in Indian Premier League history behind Virat Kohli. Delhi made a bold decision by snubbing Dhawan despite him being the leading run-getter for the past couple of seasons. Several franchises, who are in a search of an opening batter, will push for Dhawan as he stills has a lot of game left in him, especially for the shortest format.

Matches: 192, Runs: 5784, SR: 126.64, 100/50: 2/445 Rashid Khan: SRH made some disastrous calls during the retention time as they let go of Rashid Khan who was named as T20 player of the last decade. The team management revealed that they tried to convince him to stay but things didn’t pan out. However, SRH assured that they will try to re-hire him in the auction. In the last five seasons, Rashid has claimed 93 wickets which is the second-highest by any player. The Afghan spinner is going to break the bank for sure if he entered the auction and all 10 franchises are expected to target him.

Matches: 76, Wickets: 93, ECO: 6.33

6 Yuzvendra Chahal: RCB made a questionable decision by not retaining Chahal in the retention list. The leg-spinner has been the go through for the franchise in the past 4-5 years. He is arguably one of the best spinners of the shortest format at the moment. There is going to be an intense bidding war amongst several franchises at the auction to get their bragging rights for Chahal.

Matches: 114, Wickets: 139, ECO: 7.59