When the IPL Retentions were announced, most franchises retained their core group of players barring franchises like Rajasthan Royals who released their skipper Steve Smith, announcing Sanju Samson as their leader for the 2021 season. While Royal Challengers Bangalore did release a considerable chunk of players but ended up retaining their core comprises of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Washington Sundar.
With the IPL auction all set to take place on 18th February, the majority of the released players are likely to be picked by other franchises. Players Like Jagadeesha Suchith, James Pattinson, Mitchell McClenaghan will eventually end up with IPL contracts at the end of the day on 18th February. But as we take a look at the list of released players, there are a few players who might just find it extremely difficult to find an IPL contract.
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The two factors that IPL franchises take under consideration is the player’s age and player’s past form, with the absence of both, a player is most likely to go unsold in the IPL auction. Today we take a look at five such players who will find it difficult to procure an IPL contract in the 2021 IPL auction.
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Let’s take a look at five such players who will find it difficult to procure an IPL contract in the 2021 IPL auction:
1. Murali Vijay
Murli Vijay was one of the most experienced batsmen in the Chennai Super Kings line up until they decided to release him ahead of the 2021 IPL auction. The man from Tamil Nadu is way past his prime since his last worthy season came way back in 2016 for the Kings XI Punjab franchise.
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After playing just 3 matches and scoring 32 runs in the 2020 season, Murli Vijay didn’t find a place among the retainers for the 2021 season. The rise of Ruturaj Gaikwad in the CSK roster also may have influenced the ouster of Murli Vijay from the squad. After not playing in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, it seems unlikely if Murli Vijay would find any bids on 18th February.
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2. Karun Nair
The Karnataka Batsman has looked in patchy form since last 4 IPL seasons, Karun Nair has just played 5 matches across in the last two seasons for Kings XI Punjab and has further gone without a 50 plus score since the last 10 T20 outings.
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Even in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Karun Nair’s highest score has been 27. The lack of runs in addition to not being a distinguish gear-changing batsman in the shorter format, Karun Nair might be seen in the unsold players’ list at the end of the 2021 IPL auctions.
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3. Harbhajan Singh
The moment Mumbai Indians released Harbhajan Singh in 2018, we all knew the off spinner’s IPL career is near a close. After representing the Mumbai Indians franchise for 10 years, the Mumbai based franchise decided to move on looking to build a young team for the near future. While Mumbai Indians invested in spinners like Mayank Markhande, Rahul Chahar and Anukul Roy, the MS Dhoni-led franchise Chennai Super Kings picked Harbhajan for his base price of 2 crore rupees in 2018.
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After playing two seasons for Chennai Super Kings picking up 23 wickets in 24 matches, Harbhajan Singh was released ahead of the 2021 IPL Auction after having not played in the 2020 season due to personal reasons. With no domestic cricket under Harbhajan Singh’s belt, it seems unlikely that any franchise would be looking to bid for Harbhajan Singh.
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4. Kedar Jadhav
Perhaps during the 2016 home series against England, Kedar Jadhav was being touted as India’s new age finisher after MS Dhoni but after a poor, 2019 World Cup for India and even poorer 2020 IPL season for Chennai Super Kings where Jadhav could only fetch 62 runs in 8 matches led to Chennai Super Kings releasing Kedar Jadhav ahead of the 2021 IPL auction.
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With age not being by Kedar Jadhav’s side, there’s a partial chance that Kedar Jadhav might end up going unsold at the 2021 IPL auction on 18th February.
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5. Jason Roy
Jason Roy is one of the best opening batsmen in the limited-overs format going around in the World. Despite being a destructive batsman opening the batting for England, the man from Surrey hasn’t got his share of chances in the IPL. He first featured for the Gujarat Lions in 2016 where he batted down the order after which he was picked by the Delhi Daredevils in 2018 where he scored 120 runs in five matches.
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In 2020 IPL auction, Roy was again picked by Delhi Capitals but just a few days before the IPL began, Roy was ruled out of the season due to an injury. With almost every IPL franchise’s opening slot being sorted, there’s a very bleak chance that Jason Roy would be getting a bid in the 2021 IPL auction.
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