IPL 2024 Auction: Explaining biggest trades and releases ahead of mini-auction

The 10 teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) sure made some interesting calls over the weekend with the deadline for announcing their list of retained players coming to an end on Sunday, 26 November.

With the drama surrounding player retention and releases behind us, the focus will now shift to the mini-auction that is set to take place in three-weeks’ time in Dubai. Fans will get to witness a fresh round of pitched battles fought off the field — between franchise representatives in the bidding room — with the on-field battles involving their favourite franchises still months away.

It’s not just player retentions and releases that have dominated headlines in the past few days; the franchises have also been busy trading players in the ongoing window that is set to run till 12 December, and then resume from 20 December till a month before IPL 2024 gets underway.

And it is this trading window that has given us the biggest headline since the World Cup final, with Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya returning to the Mumbai Indians in an all-cash deal.

Here’s a quick recap at some of the major trades and releases by each of the 10 franchises ahead of this year’s mini auction:

Chennai Super Kings: Ben Stokes had already announced his intention to pull out of IPL 2024 to manage his workload given he will also be leading England in a five-Test series against India before the IPL and will also be expected to play an important role in the T20 World Cup later. Additionally, middle-order batter Ambati Rayudu had already announced his retirement from all forms of the game after starring in Chennai’s title-winning run last year. Kyle Jamieson too hasn’t been part of the action in the IPL since the 2021 season.

Mumbai Indians: The biggest move of them all in recent weeks has been Hardik Pandya’s return to the fold after spending two seasons with Gujarat Titans as their captain. And MI have gone for this all-cash move with a specific goal in mind — to ensure they have an able successor in place for skipper Rohit Sharma, who is 36-years-old and might not remain an active player for much longer. Jofra Archer’s release too frees up a lot of funds for the five-time champions and the English pacer hardly played a role in their run to the Qualifiers last season. MI also decided to trade all-rounder Cameron Green to the Royal Challengers Bangalore in order to accommodate Pandya in their squad.

Kolkata Knight Riders: In one of the most surprising moves of the player retention deadline, KKR decided to part ways with India all-rounder Shardul Thakur along with 11 others — the most by a single franchise. And a reason why they decided to release Thakur was because of the fact that they couldn’t guarantee four overs from him on a regular basis or an impactful performance with the bat in the top six. Lockie Ferguson’s tendency to get sidelined with injuries might have played a role in him getting added back to the auction pool as well.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Another move that has had several experts and fans scratching their heads is the decision to leave Harry Brook out of their retained list ahead of the player auction. Brook’s price tag of Rs 13.25 crore however, is where things might start to make sense from the team management’s perspective, as it frees up a lot of funds for the auction. They’ve also left out another Englishman in leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who didn’t quite fill the Rashid Khan-sized hole last season.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: RCB parted ways with spin-bowling all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga as well as senior India seamer Harshal Patel and Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood. And according to head coach Andy Flower, the reason behind releasing Hasaranga and Patel is to free up funds for the player auction, given their high price tags, while adding that Hazlewood will not be available for the first half of the 2024 season, making little sense for them to retain him.

Gujarat Titans: The 2022 champions and 2023 runners-up have been in the news for one reason — Pandya’s high-profile move to MI. Since then, they’ve appointed Shubman Gill as the captain knowing they see long-term potential in the star opener. They’ve also parted ways with the likes of West Indian all-rounder Odean Smith and Alzarri Joseph, who didn’t quite set the stage on fire last season and might have been released to free up some funds.

Delhi Capitals: Like KKR, DC too have gone for an overhaul of sorts by releasing as many as 11 players into the auction pool, including Rilee Rossouw and Rovman Powell. DC had finished second-from-bottom in the 2023 season after lingering at the 10th spot for the most part, and these high-profile names, along with the likes of Manish Pandey and Sarfaraz Khan, have not been contributing to the team’s cause. DC have retained their core while setting their sights on bringing new faces in order to start afresh next season.

Punjab Kings: PBKS didn’t leave out too many players but it is their decision to part ways with Shahrukh Khan, who had developed into a finisher last season, that will have many wondering the wisdom of the move. The only reason one could think of is the fact that he collected 156 runs at an average of 22.29, and perhaps did not meet the team management’s expectations even if he had a pretty impressive striking rate. As for Sri Lanka’s Bhanuka Rajapaksa, he did not have much of an impact other than a lone half-century in four outings.

Rajasthan Royals: Joe Root had already indicated his desire to opt out of next year’s IPL around the same time as compatriot and CSK all-rounder Ben Stokes, and it didn’t make sense for RR to retain him. The Royals also didn’t quite get the best out of Jason Holder last season, and decided to part ways with him while shoring up the pace department by bringing in Avesh Khan in a trade from Lucknow Super Giants.

Lucknow Super Giants: LSG are a little short on funds and that might have been the primary motivator behind their releases and decision to trade Romario Shepherd and Avesh Khan to Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals respectively. Despite that, they’re left with a little over Rs 13 crore in their purse and have six vacant slots.