Indian T20 League: 5 expensive players who might be released ahead of mini-auction

Amidst the ongoing 20-20 World Cup 2022, the Indian Cricket Board have sent a deadline of 16th November to all the franchises to finalize their squad for the next edition of the Indian T20 League. All the franchises are ought to send their final list of 15 players for the 2023 edition by the aforementioned date. It is also worth mentioning that the franchises are only allowed to retain 15 players out of their 25-member squad. 

Advertisment

Thus, a lot of players from different squads would find themselves in the auction pool. The 2023 Indian T20 League auction is scheduled to be held on 16th December 2022 and, there could be a possibility that the auction would take place outside the nation for the first time in the history of the tournament. 

In this article, we will take a look at five expensive players who might be released ahead of the Indian T20 League 2022 auction:

1. Nicholas Pooran 

Advertisment

Nicholas Pooran: (Image Source: Twitter)

After enduring a dismal outing with Punjab in the 2021 Indian T20 League edition, Hyderabad picked him in the following season for a whopping amount of 10.75 crores. Pooran had a decent outing with the new franchise as he managed 306 runs in 14 matches at 38.25. 

Pooran’s current form, however, doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. He led West Indies in the 20-20 World Cup 2022 and had a horrible campaign. Pooran scored only 25 runs in 3 matches at a strike rate of 86.21. Given the kind of form he is in, it’s unlikely that the franchise would retain him for the next season. 

Advertisment

2. Devdutt Padikkal 

Devdutt Padikkal: (Image Source: Twitter)

Rajasthan had a lot of openers in their squad still they roped in Devdutt Padikkal. The southpaw found his place in the middle order but didn’t make great returns. In 17 matches, he managed to score 376 runs at an average of 22.12. His strike rate of 122.88 didn't inspire a lot of confidence either. 

With Rajasthan already having a lot of options at the top of the order, there are likely to release Devdutt Padikkal for the next season. 

3. Manish Pandey 

Manish Pandey: (Image Source: Twitter)

Despite his poor returns for Hyderabad in the 2021 edition, Lucknow trusted Manish Pandey’s ability and roped him in for their maiden season. He batted in the middle-order but, once again, struggled to score quickly and lost his wickets on numerous occasions because of that. Pandey could manage to score only 80 runs in 6 matches at an average of 14.67. 

4. Pat Cummins 

Pat Cummins: (Image Source: Twitter)

There is no denying that Pat Cummins isn’t the bowler that he used to be in the shortest format of the game. He couldn’t live up to the expectation for Kolkata in the 2022 edition and hasn’t been bowling too well in the ongoing 20-20 World Cup 2022. Looking at his performances in the last 12 months, Cummins ability to bowl at the death has taken a big hit and it shouldn’t come as a surprise if Kolkata released him from their list of retained players. 

5. Kieron Pollard 

Kieron Pollard: (Image Source: Twitter)

Kieron Pollard had a horrendous outing with the bat for Mumbai in the last edition of the tournament. He couldn’t got going whatsoever and looked all at sea. He played 11 matches and could only manage to score 144 runs at a dismal average of 14.40. Pollard is longer part of the West Indies team and the veteran could himself in the auction pool in December.