Apart from entertainment, IPL is also the most expensive cricket league in the world. Every player wants to play in the IPL as he also wants to earn an enormous amount. That’s why every player works hard to perform in IPL so that his team can retain him by giving a lucrative amount. However, some big releases by IPL teams became their biggest mistake. So, let’s look at the ten worst releases in IPL history.
1. Yuzvendra Chahal (MI)
It is one of the biggest releases by Mumbai Indians in their IPL history. It was 2011 when Mumbai Indians purchased Yuzvendra Chahal, and in that season, he got to play only one match. After that, he was also a winning member of the Mumbai Indians team in the 2013 IPL. But the following season, Mumbai Indians released him, and RCB purchased him. After coming to RCB, Yuzvendra Chahal became one of the greatest bowlers of IPL. Currently, he is playing for Rajasthan Royals. In his IPL career, Yuzvendra Chahal has played 145 matches in which he has taken 187 wickets, the highest by any bowler in IPL.
2. Shikhar Dhawan (SRH)
It was the year 2008 when Shikhar Dhawan played his first IPL season. Due to poor performance, Shikhar Dhawan was traded to Mumbai Indians in IPL 2009. In 2011, Shikhar Dhawan came in Deccan Chargers, which became Sunrisers Hyderabad. From 2011 to 2018, he played for Sunrisers Hyderabad and won an IPL trophy. But in IPL 2019, Shikhar Dhawan faced a massive deduction of 12.5 crores to 5.2 crores, so he decided to shift, and again, Delhi Capitals purchased him. But it was a big mistake by SRH as they lost the player who consistently performed in every IPL season.
3. AB de Villiers (DD)
It is the worst release of Delhi as they released one of the most prominent players ever. In IPL 2008, Delhi Daredevils purchased him at 1.2 crore. But he could not perform according to his level. But in IPL 2009, Ab de Villiers scored 671 runs with an average of above 50. But after one year, before the 2011 auction, Delhi Daredevils released, and RCB purchased him for five crores. After that, Ab de Villiers played for RCB throughout his career and won many essential and close matches for RCB.
4. Shane Watson (RCB)
Shane Watson is one of the biggest all-rounders who has ever played IPL. He was the kind of player who could win matches either with bat or bowl. After the two-year ban on Rajasthan Royals, RCB purchased Shane Watson for 9.5 crore. But in IPL 2016, Shane Watson had a role to bat in the middle-order, which did not suit him, and he could not perform well. After a terrible season in 2017, RCB decided to release Shane Watson. In the 2018 auction, CSK returned from their ban and purchased Shane Watson for four crore. As a result, Shane Watson performed exceptionally well for CSK in the 2018 finals, and CSK won the 2018 IPL trophy.
5. Suryakumar Yadav (KKR)
Suryakumar Yadav is one of the most destructive batsmen in modern-day cricket. In the IPL, Suryakumar Yadav is one of the leading players for Mumbai Indians. But before joining the Mumbai Indians, he played for KKR. In the IPL auction in 2014, KKR purchased Suryakumar Yadav, and they also won the title in the same year. KKR also made him their vice-captain. But in KKR’s team, he generally used to bat in the lower middle order. As a result, Suryakumar Yadav was not adequate for KKR, and they did not bid for him in IPL 2018. As a result, Mumbai Indians purchased him for 3.3 crore, and today, Suryakumar Yadav is one of the biggest match-winners for Mumbai Indians.
6. David Warner (DD)
Regarding worst releases, the Delhi Daredevil’s name will arrive at the top. There was a time when Delhi used to have big players like de Villiers, Russell, and Warner, but they released all of them. In 2009, David Warner started his IPL journey with Delhi Daredevils. He played for five years for Delhi Daredevils, and in a mega auction of 2014, Delhi Daredevils was released, and SRH purchased him at a whopping price of 8.8 crore. This decision of SRH turned out to be their best decision as Warner won IPL 2016 for SRH and scored plenty of runs.
7. Jos Buttler (MI)
It was 2016 when the England Cricket Board gave their players a green signal to play IPL. In IPL 2016, Mumbai Indians purchased Joss Buttler at 3.8 crore. Jos Buttler played for Mumbai Indians for two years, and in those years, he played some brilliant innings. Despite all this, Mumbai Indians made a wrong decision and released Buttler before the 2018 auctions. After that, Rajasthan Royals purchased him for 4.5 crore. From 2018 to now, Jos Buttler has always been one of the main pillars of Rajasthan’s team.
8. Chris Gayle (KKR)
Chris Gayle is one of the most destructive and dangerous batsmen in IPL history, and his stats also prove the same. Even now, he has the record for most IPL sixes and the fastest IPL century. It all started in 2009 when KKR purchased Chris Gayle for 3.93 crore. After that, he played for KKR for two seasons. But before the 2011 mega auction, KKR released him from the team. In the auction, RCB purchased him. In IPL 2011, Chris Gayle performed exceptionally and became the highest run scorer of that season. After that, he made and broke many records while playing for RCB.
9. Andre Russell (DD)
Delhi Daredevils has a long history of releasing some of the greatest IPL players, and Andre Russell is one of them. Andre Russell started his IPL journey in 2012 when Delhi Daredevils purchased at 2.39 crore. But Delhi Daredevils gave few chances as he got to only seven matches in two seasons. Before the mega auction of IPL 2014, Delhi Daredevils decided to release him. In the mega auction, KKR purchased 60 Lakhs. After that, Andre Russell became one of the most dangerous batsmen in IPL.
10. KL Rahul (RCB)
KL Rahul is one of the most consistent batsmen in the IPL, scoring runs in every IPL season. In 2013, KL Rahul started his IPL journey with RCB at a base price of 10 Lakhs. After that, he played three more seasons for RCB but was released before the 2017 auction. But that was one of the biggest mistakes of RCB as KL Rahul also could be RCB’s opener who could also open with Virat Kohli. After RCB’s release, KL Rahul became one of the finest IPL batters who performed consistently and scored more than 400 runs with a reasonable strike rate.
