3 surprising releases from franchises ahead of the IPL 2023 auction

Barely days after the T20 World Cup final being played, the fever of the shortest format continues with the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 auction next month. Ahead of the auction, the ten franchises announced their retention lists and releases for next season.

Sunrisers Hyderabad stole the headlines after releasing their captain Kane Williamson. Apart from a few surprise releases, a few long-term associations also came to an end with Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard bidding farewell to Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians respectively.

On that note, we take a look at three surprising releases ahead of the IPL 2023 Auction.

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#1 Mayank Agarwal

Mayank Agarwal took over the reins at the Punjab Kings (PBKS) after KL Rahul left the franchise last year. In the 2019 and 2020 seasons when the two batted together, Mayank scored 865 runs at a strike rate of over 145. However, he went through a slump last year, scoring only 196 runs at an average of 16.30 and a strike rate of 122.50.

His lean run of form could be factored as a reason for his exit, but the truth of the matter is that the 31-year-old put his team ahead of himself. For the benefit of the team, the Bangalore opener pushed himself down the order.

Handing the captaincy to Mayank was seen as a medium-to-long-term move. However, the franchise has ripped that plan apart to appoint Shikhar Dhawan as captain, which does seem like a surprising move considering how short-term it could be.

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#2 Jason Holder

Apart from the two West Indians mentioned before, the likes of Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell have also had long-standing associations with the IPL. For all his attributes and skill set, Jason Holder hasn't been able to cement his name alongside the upper echelons of legend yet.

Despite having a fairly decent season where he took 14 wickets in 12 matches at an economy rate of 9.42, one could argue the Barbados all-rounder was a valuable addition to the Lucknow Super Giants side.

Holder is still one of the best all-rounders in the game and could be the missing piece in the jigsaw for other sides in the IPL. The fact that the LSG have opted to part ways with him is a bit unpredictable.

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#3 Nicholas Pooran

Sunrisers Hyderabad have been a mess in the IPL ever since their fiasco with David Warner. The former captain left the franchise in bad taste with Rashid Khan following the exit door behind him. A similar scenario seems to be playing out for Kane Williamson as well.

Williamson had been the secondary captain figure for Warner and was always expected to take over the reins from the Australian. The same was true for Nicholas Pooran and Williamson last season.

The franchise assembled a decent core of players in the IPL auction last year, despite how bizarrely it might have played out. Evidently, they've decided to throw their toys out of the pram and try to rebuild once more.