Best XI of Indian Players Who Went Unretained In IPL 2022 Retention

After the IPL 2022 retention deadline got over, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced the list of the retained players of all the teams on Tuesday. While teams like Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super retained as many as four players, Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, retained 2 and 3 respectively.

As per the list, the 8 franchises retained a total of 27 players, which include 19 Indians and 8 foreigners. High-profile names such as MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Rishabh Pant, and many more have all been retained by their respective franchises.

However, there are a lot more names who were released by the teams ahead of the mega-auctions. Amidst all that, we have compiled the best XI of Indian players who went unretained in IPL 2022 Retention.

Best XI of Indian Players Who Went Unretained in IPL 2022 Retention

1. KL Rahul

KL Rahul’s four-year association with Punjab Kings has come to an end. He was an integral cog in Punjab Kings for the last four years. He led the run-charts for Punjab Kings in every season that he was part of. KL Rahul finished the last season as the third-highest run-getter in the tournament.

But the Indian opener is no longer interested in playing for the franchise. Punjab’s consistent failure in the league might have been the reason behind his decision.

He is likely to find himself back in the auctions. The kind of form he is in right now and the impact he has had with the bat over the last few years, he should cause a bidding war.

2. Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan has been a prolific run-scorer for Delhi Capitals for the last three seasons in IPL. He made his way back to his home team ahead of the 2019 edition of the tournament. Dhawan scored the most runs for Delhi Capitals in 2019, 2020, and 2021. Dhawan gave the team a solid start consistently at the top of the order and helped the franchise reach the playoffs on all three occasions.

However, despite that, Dhawan wasn’t retained by Delhi Capitals for next year. His opening partner, Prithvi Shaw was given the nod ahead of Shikhar Dhawan. The latter thus will go back into the auction pool and is likely to play for a new franchise new year.

3. Devdutt Padikkal

Royal Challengers Bangalore announced their retention list on Tuesday. Surprisingly, Bangalore only released three players, namely Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and Mohammed Siraj. Their first-choice opener, Devdutt Padikkal didn’t find a place in the list.

Padikkal has only played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL. He made his IPL debut in the 2019 edition of the tournament. He top-scored for the franchise in his debut season, amassing 473 runs in 15 matches at an average of 31.53.

The southpaw played some notable knocks in the first leg of IPL 2021 but couldn’t replicate those performances in the second half in UAE. Despite that, he aggregated more than 400 runs in the 2021 edition. Nonetheless, we could see a few franchises engaging in a bidding war for him.

4. Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill was touted as the future captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders. Let alone making him the skipper, Gill was not even retained by the franchise for next year. KKR included their overseas veterans i.e., Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. The other two retentions are Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy.

KKR wanted to retain Gill as well but they knew there aren’t many players like Venkatesh Iyer in Indian Cricket. There is no denying that KKR will try their best to get Shubman Gill back into the side but they might have shell a huge amount to get him.

5. Shreyas Iyer

Very few people would argue with the fact that Shreyas Iyer has played a big role in turning Delhi Capitals’ fortune in IPL. He took over the captaincy from Gautam Gambhir midway during the 2018 edition of IPL. Under his leadership, Delhi reach the playoffs for two consecutive seasons in 2019 and 2020.

Due to a shoulder injury, Iyer lost the captaincy to Rishabh Pant in IPL 2021. He missed out on the first half of IPL 2021 but made a comeback in the second leg of the tournament. However, Delhi were keen to keep Rishabh Pant as captain for not only the second half of IPL 2021 but also next season. Delhi didn’t retain Iyer as the latter is looking for a leadership role. The franchises that are looking for a skipper might target Shreyas Iyer in the auctions.

6. Hardik Pandya

Mumbai Indians would be disappointed for not being able to retain Hardik Pandya in the IPL player retention. As an all-rounder, Hardik Pandya offers a lot in T20 cricket. He became a household name in Indian Cricket due to his performances for Mumbai Indians.

He made his debut for MI in the 2015 edition and played a total of 92 matches. Hardik Pandya has 1476 runs and 42 wickets to his name. It will be interesting to see which franchise ropes him for next year.

7. Ishan Kishan

Prior to the announcement of the retention list, there were reports that Mumbai Indians would retain Ishan Kishan for next year. However, as it turned out, Suryakumar Yadav was given the nod ahead of Kishan. MI wouldn’t be too happy after having released a player like Ishan Kishan.

He was outstanding during the 2020 edition of the tournament. He was the highest run-getter for MI, amassing 516 runs at 57.33. There is no denying that he will cause a bidding war at the auctions.

8. Ravi Ashwin

   

Delhi Capitals chose one spinner in their four-player retention list. It wasn’t Ashwin, however. DC picked Axar Patel as one out of their four retentions. On the back of his impressive performances in IPL, Ashwin recently made his way back into India’s T20 side.

He was included in India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2021. However, Delhi Capitals don’t seem to be interested in continuing with Ravi Ashwin. Nevertheless, he will be back in the auction pool and it will be interesting to see which franchise he plays for next year.

9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Sunrisers Hyderabad retained three players ahead of the mega auctions i.e., Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad and Umran Malik. SRH didn’t include their pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar and for obvious reasons.

The Indian pacer exhibited disappointing performances for the franchise last season. He picked only 6 wickets in 11 matches at a dismal average of 55.83. Given how he has performed in the last couple of years, not a lot of franchises would be interesting in spending a lot of money to buy his services.

10. Yuzvendra Chahal

RCB surprised one and all after releasing their premier spinner Yuzvendra Chahal ahead of the mega auctions. He has been their first-choice spinner for RCB for several years. Chahal won a plethora of games for RCB on the back of his match-winning spells. H

However, it looks like, RCB isn’t interested to continue with the leggie. Yuzvendra Chahal is one of the players who is likely to attract high bids at the auctions.

11. Mohammed Shami

Punjab Kings retained only two players ahead of the Mega Auctions next year. They chose to retain Mayank Agarwal and young seamer Arshdeep Singh in the team. Surprisingly, PBKS chose to release their Mohammed Shami from the team.

Shami bowled pretty well in the second leg of IPL 2021 in UAE. He was outstanding both in the powerplay as well in death overs. He finished the season with the most wickets for Punjab, picking 19 wickets in 14 matches at an average of 20.79.