IPL 2021: 5 surprise foreign retentions for 2021 IPL

These five foreign players were retained by their respective teams for IPL 2021.

All the eight franchises of the Indian Premier League (IPL) recently announced their respective lists of players that they retained and released before the upcoming IPL 2021 auction, which will take place in February this year.

Many of the foreign players were sent back into the auction pool due to franchises looking to expand their purses in the auction and try to fill their squad with players more suited to the Indian conditions given that there are hopes of this year’s edition happening at home.    

IPL 2021 player auction date and venue announced

However, despite some major releases in foreign contingent, there were some surprising retentions as well, with many franchises, choosing to keep some players who either didn’t perform well or below expectations.

Team COC presents to you five such overseas players that franchises surprisingly retained.

ANDREW TYE (RR)

The Australian pacer Andrew Tye was the first bowler ever in IPL history to pick up a hat-trick and a five-wicket haul on debut. Tye, known for his ability to bowl variations and yorkers, was the highest wicket-taker in IPL 2018 with 24 wickets.

IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals - List of players retained and released

However, in IPL 2019 and 2020, he managed just 4 wickets in 7 matches and his economy was more than 11 on average. Rajasthan Royals played him for one match only despite paying INR 1 cr in the 2020 auction. Given that majority of his better performances have come in India and the possibility of IPL 2021 happening at home, the Royals decided to keep Tye in the squad.

KANE RICHARDSON (RCB)

Australia’s Kane Richardson is one of the best T20 bowlers around and has 145 wickets in 121 T20 matches in his career with an economy of 7.89, which is great for a pacer. Hence Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) paid 4 cr rupees for his services for IPL 2020.

IPL 2021: Royal Challengers Bangalore – List of players retained and released

Unfortunately, Richardson pulled out of the tournament for the birth of his first child and was expected that RCB would release him before the IPL 2021 auction. However, the franchise decided to retain him as they released the likes of Dale Steyn, Chris Morris, and Isuru Udana and wanted a young, but experienced fast bowler and hence retained Kane Richardson.

CHRIS WOAKES (DC)

England fast bowler Chris Woakes has played for two franchises in IPL so far, the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. He has picked 25 wickets in 18 matches thus far.

IPL 2021: Delhi Capitals – List of players retained and released

Delhi Capitals bought Woakes for INR 1.5 crores, but the England player pulled out of the tournament to stay fresh for the home season. He was replaced by Australia’s Daniel Sams.

However, contrary to popular belief, Delhi decided to retain Chris Woakes for IPL 2021 as well, given that he brings in the ability to bat as well. Delhi Capitals already have a brilliant all-rounder in Marcus Stoinis and if Woakes plays, they will form a killer combination.

MITCHELL MARSH (SRH)

Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for INR 2 crores for IPL 2020. However, Marsh suffered a torn hamstring the first match he played and was ruled out of the tournament.

Marsh is known for his big-hitting prowess and can be used as an opening bowler itself given that he bowls at a decent pace. However, he has been plagued with injury issues and hence his Australian career has also suffered.

IPL 2021: Sunrisers Hyderabad – List of players retained and released

Though SRH replaced Marsh with West Indies’ Jason Holder, they decided to retain Marsh as well for the IPL 2021, though having the all-rounder options like Mohammad Nabi and Vijay Shankar available, along with Holder.

 DWAYNE BRAVO (CSK)

West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is one of the greatest players in T20 history with 512 wickets and 6331 runs in 471 matches. However, the 37-year-old Trinidadian has started to suffer from frequent injury issues and hence his stay in the IPL 2020 for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) was a short one.

IPL 2021: Chennai Super Kings - List of players retained and released

He had come into the tournament suffering from a hamstring injury and it affected him during the tournament as well and hence could only play only 6 matches before flying home injured.

Though it was thought that CSK, which has been severely hampered with many of their star players being on the wrong side of 30, would release Bravo and go for a younger all-rounder, they decided to stick with his experience for one season more.