IPL 2020: 5 Players who were lucky to be retained by franchises

The eight Indian Premier League – IPL franchises have released their retention list for IPL 2020 and started looking at the upcoming auctions in December 2019. There were many surprising releases this year, as many in-form and talented players were released. They would be the players to watch out for in the upcoming auctions. On the other hand, there were many surprising retentions as well. Many out-of-form and disappointments from the last season have been given another chance to prove themselves this year. They would be under tremendous pressure to perform this year. Therefore, let us lake a look at 5 players, who can consider themselves lucky to have been retained this year: 1. Kedar Jadhav Kedar Jadhav. (Photo Source: Twitter) The biggest problem that haunted Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2019 was the poor performance of their middle-order despite having the likes of Ambati yadu and Kedar Jadhav. The team scored very slow in the middle overs. And Kedar was one of those disappointments from the season. The right-handed batsman scored only 162 runs in 14 games of the tournament. Moreover, these runs came at a strike-rate of 95, which is highly unsatisfactory at such a high level and for a player like him. Lastly, this performance was little replication of his high price of Rs 7.6 crores. The Chennai-based-franchise has a template of giving a player enough chances without chopping the squad. This might have been the only reason, that Kedar is still in the team. He will have the duty to justify his high price tag and the franchise’s faith in him in the upcoming season. 2. Mohammed Siraj Mohammed Siraj. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS) Mohammad Siraj was carrying a lot of hopes and promises in 2019. He had a good stint with the team in 2018, and the franchise was expecting the same in 2019 as well. However, those promises were never fulfilled due to many reasons, the primary one being the team not giving him a deserving run to prove his worth. Another reason was his failure to pounce upon the given opportunities. The 25-year-old pacer played only nine games in the season and could manage only 7 wickets. One could have expected the team to release him this year since his price was Rs 2.8 crores. However, he can consider himself lucky to have been given one more chance by the team. Siraj has been in excellent form in the ongoing domestic games. This will be a big boost for the franchise since it has struggled in the bowling department in almost every season. It will hope that he carries this form into the next edition of the tournament. 3. Karun Nair Karun Nair. (Photo Source: Twitter) This has to be among the most questionable retentions of the season. Karun Nair, who had played only one game last season, was retained by the Kings XI Punjab, and that too for Rs 5.6 crores. For a team that was so harsh even on in-form players like Sam Curran and Andrew Tye, retaining him was a questionable move. Ever since he was dropped from the Indian team after a triple hundred, Nair’s form has seen a huge dip. He has been highly inconsistent in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as well. The reason behind retaining him despite poor form might have been his performance in IPL 2018, where he scored 301 runs in 13 games. Since David Miller has been released, the right-hander would surely get more chances in the next edition. It would be interesting to see how he utilizes them and helps the side sort out their fragile middle order. 4. Varun Aaron Varun Aaron. (Photo Source: Twitter) The 30-year-old Varun Aaron has never been seen as a destructive force in the IPL except for a few seasons. He has mostly warmed the bench, no matter which team he has played for. The case was no different in IPL 2019 when he played only 5 games in IPL 2019, and that too when other players were out of form. The medium-pacer scalped only 4 wickets in those games, that too at an economy rate above 9.5. He was lucky not to be released this year since the Royals released every underperformer from the last year. In the absence of Dhawal Kulkarni and Jaydev Unadkat, he might get more chances in the playing XI this year, which will provide him with more chances to prove himself. 5. Jayant Yadav Jayant Yadav. (Photo: IANS) Jayant Yadav got only two chances last year, which is too less for a player with such high potential. The reason for him warming the bench was the presence of 4-5 frontline spinners in the squad, who overshadowed him. One could have expected MI to release him this year, for he wouldn’t have come in any use to them. Though he has been retained, he might have to warm for the initial games. But seeing his recent form, he might get more chances this year in case of an injury to other players. Therefore, the 29-year-old Jayant will have to be ready to pounce upon the chances and perform whenever drafted into the playing XI.

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IPL 2020: 5 Players who were lucky to be retained by franchises

Many out-of-form and disappointments from the last season have been given another chance to prove themselves this year.

5. Jayant Yadav

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