Indian T20 League 2023: 5 Players Who Got Retained By Franchises Despite Being Not Deserving

On 15 November 2022, all teams of the Indian T20 League shared their list of retained and released players list to the Board for the next season. All the franchises are gearing up for the next season. Gujarat will begin the next season as the defending champion. However, there were some players who did not perform well in the last season.

So, fans were expecting to see them out of their favourite teams. But, some franchises surprised fans by retaining them. It seemed like the teams showed faith in them irrespective of their performances. Among them, some players who got retained were not deserving also for the next season.      

Here are the five lucky players who got retained by their respective franchises for the Indian T20 League 2023: 

1. Varun Chakravarthy

Varun Chakravarthy (Image Source: Twitter)

In the 2021 season of the Indian T20 League, this mystery spinner impressed everyone with his abilities with the ball for the Kolkata franchise. He took 18 wickets in 17 matches, at an economy of 6.58. Varun Chakravarthy was crucial as the franchise reached the final of the tournament that year. 

But, in the next and last season, Varun had a disastrous outing for Kolkata. He took only six wickets in 11 matches, at an economy of 8.51. So, fans were expecting to see him getting released ahead of the next season. But, surprisingly, Kolkata showed faith in him and retained him.     

2. Sharukh Khan

Sharukh Khan (Image Source: Twitter)

This all-rounder came into the limelight for his domestic performances. In 2021, he made his Indian T20 League debut for the Punjab franchise. Sharukh Khan had a decent season as he scored 153 runs in 11 matches, But, his strike rate was impressive (134.21). But, In the next season, he failed to capitalize on such form.

In that season, Sharukh scored 117 runs in eight matches, at a strike rate of 108.33. So, fans were not happy with his performance. Even, reports were there that he is going to be released from the franchise. But, Punjab showed faith in him once again as they consider him on the retained layers’ list.   

3. Vijay Shankar

Vijay Shankar (Image Source: Twitter)

This all-rounder had a disappointing Indian T20 League season in 2022 for the Gujarat franchise. However, his franchise ended up as the winner of that season. Still, he failed to cooperate with his teammates. In four matches, Vijay Shankar scored just 19 runs, at an average of 4.75.

Vijay also failed to take any wickets in those four matches. So, seeing such bad form and lack of opportunities from the franchise, fans were expecting to see him out of the team ahead of the next season. But, Gujarat surprised everyone by retaining him ahead of the Indian T20 League 2023.  

4. Anuj Rawat

Anuj Rawat (Image Source: Twitter)

This opening batter made headlines last year when he started to open the innings for the Bangalore franchise. Anuj Rawat came to the franchise with a good reputation and to fill the void of Devdutt Padikkal. But, he failed to deliver as Anuj scored only 129 runs in eight matches. He batted at an average of 16.13.

Anuj Rawat managed only one fifty throughout that season. So, fans were hoping to see another opener instead of him ahead of the next season. But, it seemed that Bangalore showed faith in the young batter for another year as the franchise retained him for the Indian T20 League 2023.     

5. Ambati Rayudu

Ambati Rayudu (Image Source: Twitter)

This veteran batter had a disappointing season for his Chennai franchise in 2022. Ambati Rayudu scored only 274 runs in 13 matches, at an average of 24.91. His form was one of the reasons behind the franchise’s poor performance in that season. Even, in 2021, he failed to score big runs.

In that Indian T20 League season, Rayudu scored 257 runs in 16 matches, at an average of 28.55. So, fans were hoping to see him out of the team ahead of the next season. But, MS Dhoni showed faith once again in Rayudu as Chennai retained him. So, fans will hope for a better performance from this batter in the next season.