IPL 2018: Five big players whom teams would regret not retaining

It is the players who are the most important part of any franchise in the overall context of the Indian Premier League (IPL). They are the face of any franchise and provide the franchise with a brand value. The fans connect themselves to a franchise courtesy of their favourite players. They are crucial for a league like IPL where fans support their teams based on the team for whom their favourite player is playing.

Given this emotional connection that fans develop, it is not easy for them to see the players from their favourite franchise shift bases and play for some other team. What is worse is to see that every player doing well for the other team. While we often don’t witness big players changing teams, it was inevitable this year due to the mega auction that took place.

A few of the players had to move on from the teams they’ve played for a long time. They had to don new colours and assume new responsibilities. While a few players didn’t make the most of it, some players cherished the challenge and did exceedingly well for the new franchise.

Here are the players who went on to do well for the new franchises

1. KL Rahul | Royal Challengers Bangalore

Every RCB fan for the rest of their lives would be regretting the management not retaining KL Rahul. Rahul who played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad initially moved to Bangalore as a part of the player exchange program. In 2016, when RCB reached the finals, he played a crucial role in getting them there. He scored 397 runs in the 14 games that he played in 2016. But, he had to miss out the 10th season in 2017 due to a shoulder injury.

Given the stature of KL Rahul as a T20 player, RCB didn’t have a big reason to leave him out. Especially at the cost of players like Sarfaraz Khan and Pawan Negi. But, they decided to let him go and he proved them wrong in every possible way. Rahul was the one-man army for the Kings XI Punjab and has amassed a mammoth 659 runs at an average of 55. Looking at the way he played this season, the RCB management will definitely end up thinking twice about their strategies.

2. Andrew Tye | Chennai Super Kings

Not many would have known that CSK had an option to retain Andrew Tye in the auction. He was a part of CSK in 2015 although he didn’t get a chance to play for them. He then moved to Gujarat Lions in 2016 but only to make his debut in 2017. It was a dream debut for him as he picked a hattrick in his first ever IPL game and grabbed everyone’s attention. He played 6 games and picked 12 wickets in 2017 and has bowled very economically.

Since he played for GL in 2017 and played for CSK in 2015 before they were banned, CSK could have retained him. However, these chose not to do so and would regret the decision after seeing what has transpired this season. He has picked 24 wickets in 14 games this season and stands way ahead in the race for ‘Orange Cap’. A good genuine fast bowler who can do well at the death is exactly what CSK lack this year.

3. Ambati Rayudu | Mumbai Indians

Ambati Rayudu this season has been a complete revelation. He has never looked as good, fluid and consistent in all the years of cricket that he played thus far. His good form was given the right fuel as MS Dhoni decided to make him open the innings and make the most of his current form. He was recalled into the Indian team for the England series after his heroics this IPL.

Rayudu, who earlier played for the Mumbai Indians was always a crucial member in their side. He held the middle-order together in the Mumbai setup which looked fragile this year in his absence. He has scored 586 runs in 14 games at an average of 45 and is a strong contender for the ‘Orange Cap’. Mumbai team will surely regret not retaining him.

4. Suryakumar Yadav | Kolkata Knight Riders

‘SKY’ as he is fondly called by his Mumbai Indians teammates has had a terrific season this year. He was an integral part of KKR since 2014 and has featured in almost all the games for the franchise since then. However, his form took a dip last season. He only played 10 games last year and has scored 105 runs with the highest score of 31. This could have been one of the reasons why KKR decided to part ways with him.

However, he has reemerged himself this season with the Mumbai Indians. He batted at the top of the order for the team and began to open the innings after 4 or 5 games. SKY scored 512 runs in 14 games and must have baffled KKR management with his form. He would have been a good addition to the KKR side in the middle order where both Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill haven’t found great success.

5. Jos Buttler | Mumbai Indians

Another costly miss for the Mumbai Indians this season and we now know why they haven’t made it into the top-four. They decided to part ways with two of their star players and they did extremely well for their new franchises. Rajasthan has only made it into the playoffs because of the heroics for Jos Buttler. Ever since he was entrusted to open the innings, he took the league by storm and won quite a few games for RR almost single-handedly.

He has scored 548 runs in 13 innings this season. A bulk of those runs were scored after only he started opening the innings. He was absolutely brutal and that was exactly what Mumbai required as Pollard wasn’t in the best of his form. However, his unavailability for the entire season could have made the MI management think otherwise.