All the Teams submit their IPL 2021 players retained, released list

January 20 was the last day given to teams to submit their list of players which have been selected for Indian Premier League 2021. Some of the names that have been released from their franchises have even shocked the fans. 

2021 will see the eight season of the shortest format in India. Just ahead of their time of submission, it was known that Chennai Super Kings had retained Suresh Raina. Raina had left the previous edition of the tournament in the United Arab Emirates when he left the bio bubble to come back to India to be with his family. 

The team has retained two of its star players–Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina–and let go off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. One of the officials from the team’s end confirmed the news saying, “We will retain Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni will be the captain. Apart from Harbhajan Singh, we might release a few more players.”

One of the most debatable releases of the year was of Aaron Finch, who was associated with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. RCB has retained the Indian skipper and its star player Virat Kohli along with  AB de Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal. They have released players like Moeen Ali and Chris Morris. The team has in total released 10 players, which shocked many of their fans and also criticised by former cricketer and politician Gautam Gambhir. 

Gambhir said, “The biggest problem with RCB is the plethora of changes they make every year, it will only bring insecurity to even the players who are a part of the squad. It’s not just about releasing 10 players, even the retained ones would be thinking that if they have one more bad season, they will be ousted too. This is a problem for coaches and mentors – just to save their positions, they cannot blame the players.”

The former Kolkata Knight Riders player has been time and again critical of Kohli and his decision, which cricket followers also think to internal conflict. RCB has this time gone with a team inclined towards the younger lot. This includes Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar and Mohammed Siraj. 

Another big announcement after the IPL auctions was Sanju Samson leading Rajasthan royal for the first time in 2021. The team led by Samson consists of Ben Stokes along with Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal. It left one of its most reliable Australian players Steve Smith. Inside sources say that there are high chances that CSK might go for Smith in the next round of auctions. 

Delhi Capitals has mostly kept the team unchanged, retaining all the big names. From experienced opener Shikhar Dhawan to Prithvi Shaw, Anjinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant. However, the team let go of Mohit Sharam, who did not impress in the UAE. 

Defending champion, Mumbai Indians, has released the Sri Lankan great Lasith Malinga. He had been with the team in their four title wins. Last year’s hero of the team, Samson was also released and now he will be leading Rajasthan Royals. 

King XI Punjab has released one of the most explosive players Glenn Maxwell. This was majorly because the cricketer did not perform in the last edition but given his form in the recent domestic tournament in Australia, he will surely be retained by any other team in the circuit. However, the team has retained KL Rahul as the captain and Chris Gayle.