IPL 2020: Five Legendary Players Who Were Not Picked By Their Home Franchises

Cricket lovers are eagerly waiting for the world’s richest franchise league tournament, the Indian Premier League (IPL) to start. However, they will have to wait for even more as the BCCI has declared that IPL 2020 which was scheduled to start from March 29 will now start from April 15.

IPL is a tournament where not only national but international legends also participate extensively. Some legendary players of Indian cricket have been a part of the cash-rich league and some are still part of the franchises.

In the Indian Premier League, a player who performs well is kept in the franchise and the one who doesn’t is released every year no matter how big a player he is.

There have been many players in the IPL who were dropped from the team by their domestic franchise. In this article, we’ll tell you about those 5 legendary players, whose domestic franchises have shown them the way out.

IPL: 5 Legends Who Were Dropped By Their Home Franchises

Virender Sehwag, Delhi Daredevils

India’s veteran explosive opener Virender Sehwag started his career from Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla ground. Sehwag was selected as the marquee player for the Delhi Daredevils in 2008 when the IPL began.

While captaining Delhi in 2008, Sehwag scored 406 runs in 14 matches to lead his team to the semi-finals. However, the franchise lost in the knockout. After this, Sehwag sustained his form till 2012 but in 2013, he lost it.

Opening the innings in 13 matches for Delhi, Sehwag could score only 295 runs at a dismal average of 24.58. Out of them, 95 runs came in a single match, which means that Sehwag could only score 200 runs in the other 12 matches.

The domestic franchise released Sehwag for IPL 2014. In the auction, Punjab-based Kings XI Punjab bought Sehwag and added him to his team. There he scored 455 runs in 17 matches. After this, in 2015 he said goodbye to his IPL career.

Sourav Ganguly, Kolkata Knight Riders

Sourav Ganguly is also called the Prince of Kolkata. Dada started his career at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata. In IPL 2008, Kolkata Knight Riders handed Sourav Ganguly the command of the team.

Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders showed Ganguly the way out in IPL 2011. Sourav Ganguly, who captained the team, scored 493 runs in 14 matches of IPL 2010. During that time there were reports that KKR’s team management wanted to include Gautam Gambhir in the team.

After Ganguly was dropped from the team in IPL 2011, Gautam Gambhir was handed the captaincy of KKR and Gambhir gave the franchise 2 title wins.

On the other hand, Sourav Ganguly remained unsold in the 2011 auction, but in 2012 was included in the team as a replacement for Michael Clarke for Pune Warriors.

Yuvraj Singh, Kings XI Punjab

The name of Yuvraj Singh, the all-rounder who hit 6 sixes in 6 balls, has been written with golden letters in Indian cricket history. Yuvraj played a key role in winning the ICC World Cup 2007, 2011 for India. In IPL 2008, Yuvi was bought by Kings XI Punjab and handed over the command of the team.

Yuvi performed well in 2008, but in 2009 the franchise performed extremely disappointingly. Then in 2010, Yuvi was removed from the captaincy and Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara was given the command of the team. Yuvraj was a flop in that season. Then the franchise released Yuvraj in 2011.

In 2011, Yuvraj was bought by the Pune Warriors team. However, Yuvi’s franchise kept changing almost every season after that.

In IPL 2019, Yuvraj played his last IPL season with Mumbai Indians where he could not get many opportunities and on 10 June 2019, Yuvi said goodbye to his international cricket career including IPL.

VVS Laxman, Deccan Chargers

VVS Laxman, who is one of the legendary figures in the Indian cricket history, is also in the list of the legendary players whose domestic franchise showed them a way out of the team. Laxman earned more name in Test cricket than limited over cricket.

In IPL 2008, Laxman was bought by the Hyderabad-based franchise Deccan Chargers. Laxman also captained the team for the first 6 matches this season.

Laxman could not get a plethora of chances in 2009 and this season, Australian veteran Adam Gilchrist was given the command of the team. Under the captaincy of Gilchrist, the franchise won the title by defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final.

Laxman was part of the squad in 2010 but did not get a chance to play a single match. After this, in the IPL 2011, the domestic franchise of VVS released him.

However, in the 2011 auction, Kochi Tuskers Kerala bought VVS and he joined the team. There too VVS did not get a chance to play many games. With this, Laxman’s IPL career came to an end.

Rahul Dravid, Royal Challengers Bangalore

You must have been surprised to see the name of former India captain Rahul Dravid.

In fact, the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise bought Rahul Dravid in 2008 and handed over the command of the team. But he had a nightmare start as the team finished at the bottom of the tournament at number eight that season.

After this, in the IPL 2009, the franchise removed Rahul and handed over the captaincy of the team to Kevin Pietersen. Under the captaincy of Pietersen, RCB reached the finals. Although the team could not register a title win, however, they performed well throughout the season.

In 2010 Rahul had a mediocre season playing for RCB. Due to this, in 2011, the franchise released Rahul and gave a new look to the team by buying players like Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers. Dravid was bought in the IPL 2011 auction by Rajasthan Royals. In 2013, Rahul’s IPL career came to an end.

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