Indian T20 League: Five worst player releases for 2022 season

The teams for the next season of the Indian T20 League have been finalized following the conclusion of the mega auction. While the teams made some fascinating decisions, they had to take some harsh calls and release some of their key players ahead of the mega auction due to the retention policy. Some teams were able to re-purchase a few players from their 2021 squads, while others were unable to do so. Here, in this article, we will read about five worst player releases by the franchises.

Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan is a player that every side would like to have on their team. When he was freed from Hyderabad, he was reserved by Gujarat. Rashid creates pressure by forcing a lot of dots and also taking wickets. Rashid Khan has honed his mystery bowling while competing in T20 competitions throughout the world. Opponents are unwilling to take any risks against him, making him even more deadly. He will be missed in Hyderabad, where he was their key spinner for many years.

Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer was dropped from the Delhi squad when they decided to keep Rishabh Pant as captain. As many teams sought a captain, Iyer quickly became mega auction's top acquisitions. In the end, Kolkata paid 12.5 crores to acquire him. They subsequently appointed him captain. A quality Indian batter in the middle order was on the top list of many franchises and Delhi had one of the best, who they could have easily retained. However, they let him go which was strange.

David Warner

With all the problems that David Warner had with the Hyderabad team management, he was never expected to stay with them. Warner, however, was their best leader as he guided them to a title win in 2016. They were not the strongest team but still got their hands on the trophy with the help of David Warner. He has now moved to Delhi for the 2022 season. He will not lead the team but will have a huge responsibility at the top of the order. Hyderabad let go off their best player after just one bad season and this raised many eyebrows, especially given the fact that Warner had regained his form before the teams were asked to name their retentions.

Trent Boult

Trent Boult was great for Mumbai in their previous two seasons. He did extremely well for them in the powerplays which always gave them a head start. He also won the power player of the season in 2020, which is very rare for a bowler. Rajasthan purchased him in the mega auction 2022. Their inexperienced fast bowling unit will have a great impact with his presence. Along with Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, Boult can form a good bowing unit. Meanwhile, Mumbai had no choice but to release him as they had to retain Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard

Faf du Plessis

Faf du Plessis had a great run with Chennai until last season. He was one of their highest run-scorers and fell just two runs short of Ruturaj Gaikwad in the chase for the orange cap. He was a great attacking option for them, but will now represent Bangalore in the 2022 season. Faf has the highest chance of becoming the team's captain as Virat Kohli has stepped down from the position. He can be a great leader and support youngsters well. Meanwhile, Chennai not retaining Faf was a big surprise, especially considering they backed Moeen Ali ahead of Faf.