Questions raised against Kings XI Punjab's decision to release players mid-season

Three Mumbai-based players have been released by Kings XI Punjab midway through the IPL 9 season, leading to angry tweets by one of the players, and questions being asked whether such a decision should be permitted because of what it might mean for a player’s ego to be discarded midway through a season.

Shardul Thakur, Armaan Jaffer and Pradeep Sahu have been removed from the KXIP roster and they have been told to wait for the next four games till their future for this year is finalised.

All three players were with the team till this week, when the decision was relayed to them. Thakur and Jaffer have not managed to get a game, but Sahu was included in the playing XI for five matches, in which he has picked up three wickets at an economy rate of 8.34.

Adding a touch of irony to the whole affair, Jaffer earned the `Man of the Match award for his quickfire 44 for `Bandra Heroes' in a local tournament on Thursday, while KXIP’s first-choice batsmen continue to fail to deliver in the IPL.

The three released players had the least prices among players picked up by KXIP at the February 6 auction.

Anureet Singh, one of last season’s performers, is also not being played this season, and so Shardul was unlikely to be given a match. Swapnil Singh has been preferred to Sahu, while it was felt that breaking into the batting order would be too tall a task for the young Armaan.

Board must stop this practice: Powar

IPL teams have been known to release Indian players midway through a season if it is found that they do not stand a chance of featuring in the playing XI. This is done to cut down on expenditure, and also to allow cricketers to play in lower tournaments instead of warming benches, but this practice has been criticised.

Former India off-spinner Ramesh Powar, who had once been released after five games of an IPL season, told TOI, "I was 31-32 by then, and had played for India, but I was still hurt after being asked to go back home. For a youngster like Thakur, this can be extremely difficult to deal with. He's an India prospect, has played for India `A,' and by doing this to him, you're sending him the signal that he isn't wanted in the scheme of things for your team."

"It can be tough for the self-esteem of a player. People come to know that you are at 'home' when you should be a part of the IPL. You tend to think: `why did they buy me when they didn't want me in the first place?' You are entitled to feel bad. I think the Board must stop this. The Governing Council must make a rule that you have to carry the players throughout the IPL.”

KXIP coach Sanjay Bangar defended the move by saying that it is done by all the IPL teams.