Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings made several changes to their squads ahead of the IPL auction on December 23. Tuesday was the deadline to retain and release the players.
KKR released 16 players while Mumbai Indians cut ties with 12, besides Kieron Pollard who announced his retirement from the IPL. Sunrisers Hyderabad released 12 players, including captain Kane Williamson, and Punjab Kings parted ways with nine, including captain Mayank Agarwal.
Pollard was acquired by Mumbai Indians in a secret bidding at the IPL 2009 auction.
“It hasn’t been the easiest decision to make as I will keep playing for a few more years, but I understand that this incredible franchise, which has achieved so much, needs to go through transition and if I’m no longer to play for MI, then I cannot see myself playing against MI either,” Pollard said in a statement on Tuesday morning. “Once an MI always an MI.”
The franchise said he will remain with the team as its batting coach and will continue as a player for the MI Emirates in the UAE league. He scored just 144 runs in 11 games in the last IPL.
Dwayne Bravo, another IPL veteran, was released by Chennai Super Kings. After much speculation, the franchise retained Ravindra Jadeja. The all-rounder tweeted: “Everything is fine #RESTART” with a picture of himself and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
KKR, after trading in Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson and Rahmanullah Gurbaz, have only 14 players in their squad. England’s T20 World Cup hero Alex Hales, Australia Test captain Pat Cummins and England’s Sam Billings decided to skip IPL 2023 and were released. They have the smallest purse — Rs 7.05 crore — left at the auction.
Sunrisers Hyderabad were left with the largest purse (Rs 42.25 crore) for the auction on December 23, followed by Punjab Kings (Rs 32.20 crore), Lucknow Super Giants (Rs 23.35 crore), Mumbai Indians (Rs 20.55 crore), Chennai Super Kings (Rs 20.45 crore), Delhi Capitals (Rs 19.45 crore), Gujarat Titans (Rs 19.25 crore), Rajasthan Royals (Rs 13.2 crore), RCB (Rs 8.75 crore) and KKR (Rs 7.05 crore).
KKR’s retained players: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh.