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IPL 2021 players retention: Lasith Malinga, six others let go by Mumbai Indians
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the most popular sporting events in the global arena. Many youngsters wait for an opportunity to showcase their talent in the cash-rich league and on many occasions it has served as a doorway for them to get into the national side. Apart from the youngsters, IPL has also brought the biggest stars of the sport under the same umbrella, and eight franchises comprising both experienced and inexperienced cricketers fight for the silverware.
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Defending champions Mumbai Indians have released seven players from their team. The list includes Sri Lankan great Lasith Malinga, Kiwi quick Mitchell McClenaghan, Australian Nathan Coulter-Nile and his countryman James Pattinson, their Guyanese all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford, uncapped leg-spinner Prince Balwant Rai and fast bowler Digvijay Deshmukh.
Mumbai, who have lifted the IPL trophy for a record five-time, now have 18 players in their squad with seven spots open which can be filled in the mini-auction. This also means that Mumbai are eligible to pick a maximum of four overseas players in the auction, which is scheduled to be held next month.
The previous edition's runners-up Delhi Capitals released five players from their squad. The list of the players released by the franchise are:
Alex Carey
Keemo Paul
Sandeep Lamichhane
Tushar Deshpande
Mohit Sharma
Jason Roy
Media reports indicate that defending champions Mumbai Indians will be releasing veteran Sri Lanka cricketer Lasith Malinga along with Sherfane Rutherford, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Pattinson, and Prince Balwant Rai Singh.
The Sri Lanka cricketer, who had emerged as the match-winner for Mumbai in the 2019 finale, didn't take part in the 2020 season and it will be interesting to see where will he go next.
Kolkata Knight Riders have released opener Tom Banton. The Eoin Morgan-led KKR unit also let go of Chris Green, Siddesh Lad, wicketkeeper-batsman Nikhil Naik, and spinner M Siddarth.
However, the captain feels that it would have been "brilliant" if the entire core could have been kept together.
Sunrisers Hyderabad have retained most of their players. The players that have been released by the franchise are Billy Stanlake, Fabian Allen, Sanjay Yadav, B ,Sandeep and Y Prithvi Raj.
Kings XI Punjab retains KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordan, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Ravi Bishnoi, Prabhsimran Singh, Deepak Hooda, Sarfaraz Khan, Arshdeep Singh, M Ashwin, Darshan Nalkande, Ishan Porel, and Harpreet Singh
CSK have released a total of six players for the upcoming season. The name of the released players are as follow:
Piyush Chawla
Kedar Jadhav
M Vijay
Harbhajan Singh
Monu Kumar Singh
Shane Watson (retired from all cricket)
Rajasthan Royals co-owner Manoj Badale confirms that Sanju Samson has been appointed as the new captain after the franchise decided to let go of Steve Smith. Samson has been instrumental for the Royals and the team would hope for similar dividends following the new role.
Meanwhile, the team has also appointed Kumar Sangakkara as their new team director.
As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, Delhi Capitals have traded Australian pacer Daniel Sams to RCB. The move comes after Sams returned wicketless in the previous edition. But the good news for RCB is that the Australian has been in fine form in the ongoing Big Bash League and has been contributing with both the bat and the ball.
Sams is currently out of action following an injury but he will be available before the playoffs.
Meanwhile, Harshal Patel will also be traded to Bangalore, a franchise where the Haryana cricketer spent five seasons.
As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, Kings XI Punjab have released star T20 player Glenn Maxwell. The Australian was seen in fine form during the T20 series held against India last year. Meanwhile, the franchise has also released Sheldon Cottrell, K Gowtham, Mueeb ur Rahman, Jimmy Neesham, Hardus Viljoen, and Karun Nair.
List of players that have been retained by Royal Challengers Bangalore:
Virat Kohli
AB de Villiers
Yuzvendra Chahal
Devdutt Padikkal
Washington Sundar
Mohammed Siraj
Navdeep Saini
Adam Zampa
Shahbaz Ahmed
Josh Philippe
Kane Richardson
Pawan DeshpandeRajasthan Royals have released Steve Smith for the upcoming edition of IPL. Under Smith's captaincy, Royals' had finished at the bottom of the eight-team points table.
A lot of reshuffles is expected as several big names were released from their respective franchises in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The mini-auction for the same will be held next month.
Harbhajan Singh, Murali Vijay, Kedar Jadhav were some of the big names released by Chennai Super Kings as they retained former India batsman Suresh Raina. In a big move, Steve Smith was also let go by Rajasthan Royals and Sanju Samson was appointed as their new captain.
Meanwhile, defending champions Mumbai Indians let go of veteran Sri Lankan cricketer Lasith Malinga along with six others.
India's lucrative T20 league is one of the most popular sporting events in the global arena. Many youngsters wait for an opportunity to showcase their talent in the cash-rich league and on many occasions it has worked as a doorway for them to get into the national side.
Apart from the youngsters, IPL has also brought the biggest stars of the sport under the same umbrella, and eight franchises comprising both experienced and inexperienced cricketers fight for the silverware.
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