Indian Premier League (IPL) is the most-watched T20 cricket tournament in the globe without any second thoughts. India’s premier T20 competition is cut above the rest of the franchise cricket leagues because it attracts several top-quality overseas players, and promises to keep the fans on the edge of their seats in terms of the roller coaster rides. Moreover, the tensions are naturally high for games with so much at stake.
When players are purchased by teams for whopping price tags, it will trigger a lot of expectations as the fans hope that the marquee signings perform well and justify their price tag. Obviously, there will be searing pressure on the big signings and it is important to hold the nerves and go about the work. At times, even the big players fail to make a good impression and end up getting released by the franchises. In the previous season, some big names didn’t bring the best out of themselves and we expect five players will be released by the franchises ahead of the IPL 2024 auction.
1. Jofra Archer
Mumbai Indians roped the Barbados-born paceman for INR 8 crore at the IPL 2022 mega auction and since he was injured during that period, he marked his presence in IPL 2023 season. Nevertheless, he played just 5 games in the IPL 2023 before getting ruled out of the tournament due to an injury. Archer wasn’t impressive either as he took 2 wickets. In fact, Mumbai Indians, the five-time IPL champions would not make the mistake of retaining the injury-prone Archer and hence he is expected to be released ahead of the IPL 2024 auction.
2. Ben Stokes
Chennai Super Kings secured the signature of Ben Stokes for a staggering 16.25 crore at the IPL 2023 auction. After investing a truckload of cash in him, the all-rounder played only two matches at the start of the season before he was sidelined from the playing XI owing to an injury. England international recorded just 15 runs and bowled 1 over in which he conceded 18 runs during the season. He is one of the big names who is expected to be released by the five-time IPL champions ahead of the IPL 2024 auction.
3. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has long been praised as a potent pace bowling weapon for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He is one of the very few bowlers who keeps even the world-class batters in check, courtesy of his pin-point yorkers in the death overs. He has taken 170 wickets in 160 matches in the IPL. His performances declined in the last few seasons, in which he took 37 wickets in the last four seasons, which is below-average considering a player of his calibre. SRH might as well be revamping their unit this time around and Bhuvneshwar Kumar is one of the big names who is likely to be released ahead of the IPL 2024 auction.
4. Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik is one of the most experienced wicketkeeper-batsmen in the IPL. Having been featuring in the league since 2008, he has garnered 4516 runs at an average of 25.8 including 20 fifties. He has chipped in with many impactful knocks for the franchises he has been part of. Dinesh Karthik is one of the big faces who is likely to be released by Royal Challengers Bangalore after failing to repeat his finisher’s role in IPL 2022. Karthik managed to score 140 runs in 13 games in IPL 2023 season.
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5. Sam Curran
Sam Curran etched his name into record books after he became the most expensive player in the history of the cash-rich IPL when the Punjab Kings franchise roped in the all-rounder for a mind-blowing INR 18.50 crore at the IPL 2023 auction. The England international failed to justify his price tag completely as he could muster just 276 runs in 14 games including one fifty. On the contrary, he took 10 wickets in 14 games at an expensive economy of 10.22. He is expected to be released by Punjab Kings ahead of the IPL 2024 auction.