With the mega auction set to take place ahead of IPL 2022, the teams will be undergoing a major revamp. The existing teams were allowed to retain a maximum of only four players which meant the teams tried to retain their core and then build from there. The rest of the players will head to the auction pool. The existing eight franchises were allowed to retain a maximum of four players (Not more than three Indian players and not more than two foreign players). After the 30 November deadline, the teams released their lists.
A total of 27 players were retained. Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals were the franchises that retained four players. Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad retained three each while Punjab Kings retained only two players.
The likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Kane Williamson, Jasprit Bumrah, Kane Williamson were all retained. However, there were some big names that got released, including the likes of Rashid Khan, Hardik Pandya, David Warner, KL Rahul among others. There were also some surprises in store.
Lets take a look at the key players that got released by the franchises:
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Quinton de Kock, Trent Boult,
Chennai Super Kings: Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, Josh Hazlewood, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar
Delhi Capitals: Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan R Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Yuzvendra Chahal, Devdutt Padikkal, Harshal Patel
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Rashid Khan, David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Nabi
Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill, Eoin Morgan, Shakib Al Hasan, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson
Rajasthan Royals: Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Chris Morris, David Miller, Mustafizur Rahman, Liam Livingstone
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul, Ravi Bishnoi, Nicholas Pooran, Mohammed Shami, Chris Gayle