Top 5 worst IPL player-retentions of the decade

It’s been 12 years since the Indian Premier League (IPL) took flight and it’s become arguably the best T20 league in the world. It’s become clichéd to say that players from all over the world want to play in the IPL. The players, the quality of cricket, the drama during the IPL and even before and after the league makes it exciting.

The franchises are pretty busy even in the off-season. The scouting teams are on the hunt for new talents and players. They even keep a close eye on the current players and how they are performing and shaping up. Thus, there have been mistakes made by franchises ahead of the IPL seasons. They have retained players who have performed worse after being retained.

Thus, as the decade 2010s comes to an end, we look back at the top five worst player-retentions in the IPL of this decade:

(The Right To Match card retentions have also been considered)

1. Sarfraz Khan – Royal Challengers Bangalore (2018)

After 10 seasons, the IPL 2018 saw a mega auction. The franchises could retain up to five players – three of them through direct retention and two in the auction using the Right To Match (RTM) card. Ahead of the auction, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) sprung a massive surprise and shock everybody. Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers were retained and those were expected.

However, they went on to retain Sarfraz Khan and had INR 3 crore deducted from their purse despite paying him just INR 1.75 crore due to the retention rule. The uncapped batsman was retained ahead of the likes of KL Rahul, Yuzvendra Chahal and Chris Gayle. After having impressed in his maiden season – 2015 where he scored 111 runs at a strike-rate of 156.34, Sarfraz was dropped midway through the 2016 season owing to fitness issues. However, he was ruled out of the 2017 edition due to a knee injury.

Hence, it was a huge surprise that RCB decided to retain him. But his form was poor and he played seven games and scored just 51 runs at an average of 10.20. Moreover, Sarfraz was released the very next season. Thus, it was a poor retention and could well be termed as one of the worst in the history of the IPL.

2. Deepak Hooda – Sunrisers Hyderabad (2018)

Deepak Hooda had a breakout year in the 2015 season of the IPL. He had done well in the Under-19 World Cup in 2014 and backed it up with an impressive performance while playing for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 2015. His ability to don the finisher’s role was rated highly in domestic cricket and he had a strike-rate of 158.95 in the 2015 IPL season.

Thus, it was no surprise that he went for big money in the 2016 IPL auction. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) bought him for a stunning sum of INR 4.2 crore (42 times his base price). Hooda played 27 games across 2016 and 2017 and could muster just 222 runs at an average of 13.06.

Thus, he went back into the auction pool for the 2018 season. However, surprisingly, SRH used their Right To Match (RTM) Card and bought him back for INR 3.6 crore. But Hooda’s numbers continued to disappoint as he played 20 games in the last two seasons and could not cross the 100-run mark in each of the seasons. In all, he scored 151 runs (from 15 innings) at an average of 15.1 across 2018 and 2019.

3. Albie Morkel – Chennai Super Kings (2011)

Albie Morkel was a big part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) right from the first season. He usually took the new ball and donned the finisher’s role. However, the South African all-rounder blew hot and cold. Despite that, he was retained by CSK ahead of the 2011 auctions.

CSK had quite a few options at their disposal. They hadn’t retained a single bowler and they could’ve retained the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Doug Bollinger, Muttiah Muralitharan and the others. They did buy back a few of those but Morkel never had another great season with CSK again.

In the next three seasons (2011-2013), Morkel scored just 281 runs and his strike-rate dipped as well. With the ball, his effectiveness reduced and he was used a lot lesser than usual.

4. Jayant Yadav – Delhi Capitals (2017)

Back in the 2016-17 season, Jayant Yadav was a regular member of the Indian Test team. He was the reserve spinner and even played a few Test matches in that home season. By then, he had played a handful of IPL games as well. He played a total of eight games across 2015 and 2016 for the Delhi Capitals (Daredevils).

However, the returns were disappointing. The off-spinner had picked up just four wickets across the two seasons and had batted in just two innings where he scored a total of six runs. Despite that, he was retained by Delhi ahead of the 2017 season. Yadav played another couple of games in the 10^th edition and failed to pick up a wicket in the six overs he bowled.

In 2018, he was again bought by Delhi Capitals but didn’t feature in a single game. He was traded to Mumbai Indians in 2019 where he played a couple of games and picked up one wicket.

5. Pawan Negi – Royal Challengers Bangalore (2018, 2019, 2020)

Pawan Negi is the only player in this list who features for multiple years. One of the biggest reasons for that is Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB’s) adamance on not letting him go. There’s no doubt that Negi is a utility cricketer and can contribute in all three departments. However, the performances have been far from convincing.

In the 2016 IPL auction, Negi was bought for a staggering sum of INR 8.5 crore by the Delhi Capitals. However, a poor season saw him go back into the auction pool. RCB picked him up in 2017 and he had a decent season. The left-handed all-rounder made runs at a strike-rate of nearly 130 and picked up 16 wickets from 12 games.

It was a surprise when RCB used their Right To Match (RTM) card for Negi in the 2018 auction. However, he played just two games that season. He continued to be a part of RCB’s set up in 2019 as well where he played seven games and was a big disappoint with both bat and ball. Yet, he has been retained for the next season as well. Thus, the adamance over Negi is slightly baffling and one of the worst player-retentions.