IPL: Ranking 10 worst releases in the league history

9. Shikhar Dhawan (SRH)

By being contracted for INR 1.38 Crore in IPL 2013, Shikhar Dhawan had played for the SRH team till the year 2018. The cricketer in his 6-year stint had represented the orange army in a total of 85 matches and had scored more than 2500 runs at an average of close to 35. More importantly, by amassing more than 500 runs in the glory season of 2016, Dhawan had emerged as one of the vital pillars of the team.

However, with his salary receiving a massive cut from INR 12.5 Crore to INR 5.2 Crore in the 2018 season, Dhawan seemed to be unhappy with the SRH franchise and hence had decided to shift from the orange army. Therefore, before the 2019 IPL, Dhawan was again back playing for his home franchise wherein he has also now completely reinvigorated his T20 batting form.

For the last three seasons, the cricketer while representing the DC franchise has mounted a massive pile of 1,518 runs from his 41 appearances at an outstanding average of 44.38. Also by establishing himself as a reliable opener, perhaps the southpaw in many ways can be called DC’s premier batsman.

Now while the DC team from its last few seasons has immensely got benefitted from Dhawan’s brimming presence, the SRH franchise on the other hand has utterly become dependent on the likes of David Warner, Johnny Bairstow, and Kane Williamson. In fact, their local Indian batters have barely made any mark in the last two seasons of the IPL, hereby eventually making the team search for a steadfast match-winner like the 34-year old.