The IPL 2019 auction is scheduled to be held in December.
November 15 brought to end the IPL player transfer window and also was the deadline for the final list of players retained and released to be submitted by the franchises for the upcoming IPL 2019 player auction.
Chennai Super Kings was the franchise with the maximum retentions and released just 3 players, while Kings XI Punjab too let go a bunch of players. Delhi Daredevils too released some of the big players including Gautam Gambhir.
However, the interesting part was the list of players retained, as it contained some of the most surprising retentions given the form of players and their performances in the past season.
Team COC takes a look at five of the most surprising retentions by the franchises for the upcoming season.
Here are the 5 players who were surprisingly retained by franchises ahead of the IPL 2019
MANISH PANDEY (SRH)
Manish Pandey was a staple in Kolkata Knight Riders team for several years before Sunrisers Hyderabad bid for him in the IPL 2018 auction and bought him for 11 crore INR. Before the IPL 2018 season, Pandey had scored 2215 runs in IPL and much was expected from him in the middle order.
However, Pandey had a sketchy outing in IPL, scoring just 284 runs for SRH in 15 games with 3 fifties and a best of 62. He was nowhere near the form that he showed for KKR and didn’t manage to justify the price tag he had been bought for.
Sunrisers Hyderabad surprisingly chose to retain Manish Pandey for IPL 2019 showing faith in his abilities and the fact that he is a staple in India’s shortest format long-term plans. He has had a good run in India’s limited-overs teams and is part of the T20I team for quite some time and IPL 2018 might just have been an anomaly for the talented Pandey.
CHRIS GAYLE (KXIP)
Chris Gayle was released from the Royal Challengers Bangalore team after spending 7 years of success with the team where he broke many records with the bat. Though at 39 years of age, Gayle had slowed down quite a bit in the field, Kings XI Punjab finally bought him in the final round of auction, after no one bid for him.
This proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Punjab franchise, as he blasted off a century and two fifties in the first few matches for the team, enabling them to win 5 out of the six matches at the start. He ended up playing just 11 matches and made only 368 runs despite the century.
Given that he isn't getting any younger and will be close to 40 years old when the IPL 2019 rolls in, it was speculated that Chris Gayle won’t be retained by the KXIP franchise.
KXIP instead released Australian Aaron Finch, who might have been a better option to the aging Gayle. Finch is the only player to hit two 150 plus scores in T20I cricket and wasn't used well by the franchise in IPL 2018.
But Gayle has been surprisingly retained by the franchise in hopes of repeating the tactic used by CSK, cunningly using their aged players in important matches.
KIERON POLLARD (MI)
Kieron Pollard has been a single franchise player in the Indian Premier League, playing 132 matches for Mumbai Indians since his IPL debut in 2010. However, in recent years, Pollard has not been the dominating force that he is in the T20 format, with a dip in form with both bat and ball.
Pollard played in IPL 2018, scoring 133 runs in 9 matches and with just a single fifty. In IPL 2017 also, he had scored 385 runs in 17 matches with 3 fifties and a best of 70. In all, he has 2476 runs and 56 wickets in 132 IPL matches for MI so far.
However, with Pollard woefully out of form in the IPL and him not playing all the matches in the last season; many had the idea that the MI thinktank will let go of their long-term all-rounder like they had let go of Lasith Malinga in the IPL 2018 auction.
However, Mumbai Indians have gone on to retain their core group of players including Pollard, giving the mighty West Indian all-rounder another chance to redeem himself.
HARBHAJAN SINGH (CSK)
Harbhajan Singh was another single franchise player, having played for 10 years for Mumbai Indians from IPL 2008-2017. However, he was released by the team for the IPL 2018 auction and didn’t show any interest in buying him back.
Chennai Super Kings bought him for his base price and the Turbanator turned out in 13 matches for CSK and picked just 7 wickets in those matches. His inability to pick wickets meant that Harbhajan was not picked for the play-offs matches, including the final which Chennai Super Kings won defeating the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
38-year-old Harbhajan Singh is no longer in plans of the Indian selectors and seldom plays for Punjab in domestic cricket. Therefore, it was speculated that CSK would release him from the team and go for a younger looking team.
However, Chennai has refused to tinker with their winning combination and retained the Punjab off-spinner, who will mentor the younger spinners as well in the upcoming IPL 2019 for CSK.
BEN STOKES (RR)
Ben Stokes was the costliest player in the IPL 2018 with Rajasthan Royals buying him for INR 12.5 cr. This much money was paid for Stokes, after his exploits for the Rising Pune Supergiant in IPL 2017, where he cracked a century en route to making 316 runs in 12 matches and picking 12 wickets, helping the team reach the finals.
However, his performances for Rajasthan Royals was below par as he made 196 runs in 13 matches and picked just 8 wickets. He also failed to make any fifties for the team, which lost in the eliminator to KKR sans Stokes, who flew back to England for international duty.
It was expected that RR might release him in the auction and use the RTM card to buy him back for a lesser price. This was supported by the fact that the England Cricket Board had confirmed that their 2019 World Cup hopefuls will not be available past May 1 in the T20 tournament.
However, instead of risking losing Stokes to some other franchise, RR has decided to retain him for the same amount and will hope that he will come out with some incredible performances to help his team despite playing in the first half of the tournament only.