IPL: 5 players who may earn more in the auction next year if released by their franchise

The eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was indeed special as all the eight teams were revamped by their respective franchise owners. The mega-auction which took place in January earlier this year unravelled a lot of surprises as huge amount of money was spent on the domestic cricketers who had done well in the T20 tournament which preceded the event. Also, the performances of the foreign players in different T20 leagues led to them churning out a decent amount in the auction.

However, as the action unfurled after the curtain raiser of April 7, the owners got to know the real worth of the players. While few of them lived up to the expectations, many failed to justify the price tag attached to them despite being given opportunities time and again during the tournament. Unfortunately, there were also some cricketers who were not suited to a particular team and their home conditions which is why they failed to impress. The franchises will definitely be thinking of getting rid of the underperformed players in order to resurrect their season next year.

There are a few such players who will still manage to attract a lot of bids in the auction despite not rising to the occasion this year only because of the reputation they’ve built in the shortest format of the game.

Here we bring you the list of 5 players who will earn more in the auction next year if their teams release them:

1. David Willey (Chennai Super Kings)

David Willey left his County team Yorkshire at the eleventh hour when the season was about to start only to ply his trade in the cash-rich T20 league. The CSK franchise had approached him after losing Kedar Jadhav due to an injury in the tournament opener. There was a lot of excitement around his inclusion courtesy of his all-round skills. Many thought that the Men in Yellow would straight away slot him in the playing XI as he is a brilliant T20 bowler. Moreover, Willey is a dangerous batsman as well and they could’ve used him as a pinch hitter after his exploits as an opener in the T20 Blast last year.

But CSK used him only in three matches during the season and was only included in the side after Deepak Chahar got injured. Even Willey failed to bring his ‘A’ game to the fore and could pick just a couple of wickets while conceding 9.50 runs per over. He was never used with the bat by them courtesy of their strong top order and eventually it was a disappointing season for him.

CSK might release him for the next season and he might still get a huge amount in the auction. He could be used to open the innings, much like Sunil Narine does for KKR, by any other team while making good use of his left-arm bowling as well.