IPL 2023: Team-wise one player who was unlucky to be released

Over the years, the luck factor has played a massive role in order to help a player regain his lost glory in the Indian Premier League. Before the mega auction in 2011, Kolkata Knight Riders released Chris Gayle, who went on to join Royal Challengers Bangalore and changed how RCB played their cricket in the tournament.

The same is true in AB de Villiers's case when he joined RCB after playing for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). Similarly, when Mumbai Indians let Quinton de Kock and Hardik Pandya leave in 2022 and when Sunrisers Hyderabad let David Warner and Rashid Khan go in the same year their (players') fortunes changed dramatically. 

The franchises might have regretted but what about the players who felt the same? A total of 90 players were released by ten franchises ahead of the IPL mini-auction 2023. Let's talk about the players 

Unlucky players who were released before IPL 2023

1. Lockie Ferguson (Gujarat Titans)

Ahead of the mini-auction, the defending champions Gujarat Titans let one of their premier pacer Lockie Ferguson leave for Kolkata Knight Riders. A former Knight, Ferguson joined Gujarat in 2022 at a sum of INR 10 CR. It's highly likely that GT might have traded the player to free up some valuable bucks and would look to utilise the same at the auction.

Playing for the Hardik Pandya-led side, the 31-year-old picked up 12 wickets in 13 matches and bowled at an economy of 8.96. Despite being a foreign pacer, he used to feature regularly in the team but ultimately the purse factor played a massive role.

In the absence of Pat Cummins and Shivam Mavi, Lockie can be a valuable addition to the Kolkata franchise and Gujarat later might regret letting the player leave.

He can be extremely dangerous in the death overs where the Knight Riders have suffered a lot in the previous edition. His sheer pace will also be a massive asset for Kolkata.