IPL 13 received the wrath of the Coronavirus pandemic as a result of which it got postponed to some months later. It eventually got held in the month of September with the tireless efforts of BCCI and ICC. However, IPL 14 is all set to be conducted during the original schedule in the month of March.
With such a small window between the IPL seasons, the franchise of all the teams are making preparations in full swing to consolidate their sides to the maximum possible extent. Teams are releasing their inconsistent players to go under the hammer for the upcoming mini auction.
On the other hand, the sides are not at all hesitating to retain strong players by emptying the pockets and reducing their available budgets. The mini auction is all set to begin in the month of February and we can expect huge tension and excitement amidst the franchisees.
Of all teams featuring in IPL, RCB has always been in limelight owing to the various star studded players in the side. In an effort to improvise the team’s woeful performances, RCB has recently made some massive and harsh changes to their existing side. It has released the under performing players for the upcoming season, one of which is its wicket keeper batsman, Parthiv Patel.
Parthiv has been associated with the side since 2018-20 before being released this year. RCB took to twitter to post a video as a token of thanksgiving for the batsman in its official twitter handle.
Watch the video here:
In response, Parthiv wittily responded to troll back hilariously as, “An absolute honour to be released after being retired. … thank you @RCBTweets.”
Parthiv Patel could not feature in a single match in IPL 13 owing to his form and injuries. Also he had recently announced retirement from all formats of international cricket. It would be now interesting to see if he plays for some other franchise or announces retirement from this format as well.
RCB qualified for the play offs this time finishing fourth in the standings with 14 points from 14 matches. Devdutt Padikkal, the emerging debutant was the leading run-scorer for RCB as he shone with 473 runs while Yuzvendra Chahal bagged 21 wickets for the side. These players were hence retained by the director, Mike Hesson.
Mike has assured the fans that the team this year would be a brand new one with little bit of tweaking to find the perfect team balance all geared up for the upcoming edition.
The list of players retained and released by RCB
Players retained by the team includes – Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal, Devdutt Padikkal, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa, Josh Philippe, Shahbaz Ahmed and Pavan Deshpande.
Players released by the team includes – Aaron Finch, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Moeen Ali, Pawan Negi, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Shivam Dube, Dale Steyn, Parthiv Patel and Umesh Yadav.
IPL 14 is going to be held in India this time and with the pandemic norms relaxed, we are certainly expecting the glamour and entertainment to return back in some form and be a huge success.
