Indian T20 League 2023: Five Players who didn't deserve retention

On November 15, 2022, all 10 teams released the list of retained and released players for the next edition. Franchises are prepared and set to build their team in the upcoming auction scheduled to take place next month. The Gujarat franchise will begin their next season’s campaign as defending champions. However, they were some players as well who didn’t perform but were still retained by their respective franchises.

The fans were thinking that the players who didn’t perform for their favourite teams would be removed from the team but the franchises disappointed the fans and retained the players despite not performing. Among them, some players who got retained were not deserving for the next season. 

These are the five players who were retained by their respective Indian T20 League franchises despite not performing well in the last season.

1. Vijay Shankar (Gujarat)

Vijay Shankar (Source: Twitter)

All-rounder Vijay Shankar had a very disappointing season for the Gujarat franchise last year. However, Gujarat went on to lift the title eventually. He played four matches and was able to score only 19 runs at an average of 4.75. 

In the four matches, he was not able to grab a single wicket. So with such bad form and lack of opportunities from the franchise, fans thought that they will see him out from the side but Gujarat surprised their fans and retained him.

2. Anuj Rawat (Bangalore)

Anuj Rawat (Source: Twitter)

The Delhi-born boy was in news before opening for the Bangalore franchise in the last season of the Indian T20 League. Anuj Rawat was picked by the Bangalore side as the replacement for Devdutt Padikkal.  But he failed to deliver and was able to score only 129 runs in eight matches at an average of 16.13.

Anuj only scored one fifty in the last edition. So fans were hoping to see the new opener but the Bangalore franchise proved them wrong and granted one more chance for the youngster.

3. Varun Chakravarthy (Kolkata)

Varun Chakravarthy (Source: Twitter)

In 2021 Varun Chakravarthy was the pick of the bowlers for the Kolkata franchise and from then on he was known as the mystery spinner. He took 18 wickets in the 17 matches he played last season at an economy of 6.58. His brilliant performance helped the Kolkata franchise to reach the final in that season. 

But in the last season, Varun had a disastrous outing for Kolkata. He snapped only six wickets in the 11 matches at an economy of 8.51. Fan expected that Varun would be released but he was retained and backed by the Kolkata side.

4. Shahrukh Khan (Punjab)

Shahrukh Khan (Image source: Twitter)

Shahrukh Khan, an all-rounder from the Punjab side came into the limelight with his brilliant performance in domestic cricket. The 2021 season was his debut season. He had a decent season as he scored 153 runs in 11 matches at a strike rate of 134.21. But, in the next season, he failed to capitalize on the form.

In that season, he scored 117 runs in eight matches, at a strike rate of 108.33. Fans were not satisfied with his performance and thought that the Punjab franchise will release him but the franchise proved everyone wrong and retained him for the 2023 edition of the Indian T20 League.

5. Ambati Rayudu (Chennai)

Ambati Rayudu (Image source: Twitter)

Ambati Rayudu’s last season proved to be disastrous for him. He scored only 247 runs in the 13 matches at an average of 28.55. His form was one of the reasons behind Chennai’s poor performance. Even in 2021, he was not able to score runs consistently. 

In the 2021 edition of the Indian T20 League, Rayudu scored 257 runs in the 16 matches he featured in at an average of 28.55. So the fans were thinking that the Chennai franchise will drop him but they showed faith in him and backed him for the next edition.