As IPL 2021 mini-auction nears, here's a list of players retained & released by franchises

With the much-anticipated IPL 2021 inching closer, all the eight franchises set to feature in the action-packed league announced their list of players retained and released on Wednesday. The franchises had been given a deadline of January 20 to submit their list of players retained as the mini-auction is expected to be held in February. Based on the number of players released and retained, the teams will gain a certain amount in their purse allowing them to buy players in the IPL 2021 auction. 

Here is the comprehensive list of all players released and retained by the franchises: 

1. Mumbai 

Defending champions Mumbai have retained most of their players as their squad outclassed every other team to lift the IPL trophy for the fourth time in 2020. However, the Rohit Sharma-led squad decided to part ways with veteran Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga along with Kiwi quick Mitchell McClenaghan and have retained 18 players. Australian speedster Nathan Coulter-Nile and James Pattison - who had a terrific IPL 2020 - have been released as well. 

• Players Retained: 

Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (WK), Chris Lynn, Anmolpreet Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Aditya Tare (WK), Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan

• Players Released: 

Lasith Malinga, Mitch McClenaghan, James Pattinson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Sherfane Rutherford, Prince Balwant Rai, Digivijay Deshmukh

• Remaining Purse: 15.35 crores

2. Chennai 

Despite having a dismal IPL 2020, the MS Dhoni-led Chennai defied expectations and has retained most of its squad. After a poor show by the three-time champions in 2020, the squad was expected to head for a complete revamp this year. The franchise has retained most of its players including Ambati Rayadu, Karn Sharma, Imran Tahir, Dwayne Bravo and Deepak Chahar. The squad will be led by MS Dhoni as in the previous editions of the IPL so far. Chennai has also retained young Ruturaj Gaikwad, who made an impact in the last leg of the tournament in 2020, with some brilliant innings as he opened the batting for the team. Ace all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran along with Mitchel Santner have also been retained by the franchise. On the other hand, Kedar Jadhav, Piyush Chawla and Murali Vijay have been released in a bid to increase the franchise's purse amount for the mini-auction. 

• Players Retained: 

N Jagadeesan, R Gaikwad, KM Asif, R Jadeja, MS Dhoni, J Hazlewood, K Sharma, A Rayudu, S Raina, I Tahir, D Chahar, Faf du Plessis, S Thakur, M Santner, D Bravo, L Ngidi, S Curran, S Kishore.

• Players Released: 

Kedar Jadhav, Piyush Chawla, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, S Watson, M Singh

• Remaining purse: Rs 22.9 crores

READ | IPL 2021: Glenn Maxwell Released By Punjab; Hyderabad Retains Most Of Its Squad

3. Bangalore 

After reaching semi-finals for the first time in three years in 2020, Bangalore will eyeing a repeat of their brilliant performances this year as well. The squad has retained its core group comprising of skipper Virat Kohli, spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and explosive Proteas batsman AB de Villiers. Simon Katich and the management have also decided to keep youngster Devdutt Padikkal, who had a phenomenon IPL 2020, providing the squad with great starts at the top of the order. 

Moreover, Bangalore has also decided to retain the services of Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini as they eye their maiden IPL title in 2021. Notable overseas players that have been retained include Adam Zampa, Josh Philippe and Kane Richardson. The franchise has also acquired the services of Daniel Sams as a trade from Delhi. 

• Players Retained: 

Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa, Josh Philippe, Kane Richardson, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Shahbaz Ahmed and Pawan Deshpande 

• Players Released: 

Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Aaron Finch, Chris Morris, Pavan Negi, Parthiv Patel, Isuru Udana & Umesh Yadav

• Remaining purse: Rs 35.7 crores

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4. Punjab

Punjab franchise has announced that they will release Australian hard-hitter Glenn Maxwell, releasing a list of 16 cricketers who have made the cut for the 2021 Dream11 Indian Premier League. Apart from Maxwell, West Indies’ speed merchant Sheldon Cottrell, another big biggest star attraction has also been released owing to his below-par performance. 

According to Head Coach Anil Kumble, the plan was to retain 'the core of the team'. “The plan was to keep the core of the team, and make sure the players who were part of the team last season will continue this year as well. We believe that this group along with whoever we pick at the auctions to fill those gaps will be able to turn things around for Kings XI Punjab,” said Kumble.  

• Players Retained:  

KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Prabhsimran Singh, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel

• Players Released:

Glenn Maxwell, Karun Nair, Hardus Viljoen, Jagadeesha Suchith, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Sheldon Cottrell, Jimmy Neesham, Krishnappa Gowtham, Tajinder Singh. 

• Remaining Purse: Rs 53.2 crores

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5. Hyderabad 

Hyderabad has also retained most of its players from the 2020 squad and only five players have been released. Seen as the most consistent squad in the IPL, Hyderabad will be setting its eyes on the silverware this year without having to worry much about the auction. The franchise which lifted the cup in 2016 had a medicore outing in the last edition and will be looking to boost their batting in a bid to lift pressure off the top order. 

• Players Retained: 

David Warner, Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha, Shreevats Goswami, Priyam Garg, Virat Singh, Rashid Khan, Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi, Abhishek Sharma, Mitchell Marsh, Jason Holder, Abdul Samad, T Natarajan, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Basil Thampi, Shahbaz Nadeem, Siddharth Kaul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar. 

• Players Released:

Billy Stanlake, Fabian Allen, Sanjay Yadav, B Sandeep, and Y Prithvi Raj

• Remaining Purse: Rs 10.75 crores

6. Rajasthan 

Rajasthan seem to have made the most significant change in its squad ahead of the auction as it announced that it has released captain Steve Smith. While the reason is unknown yet, it has been speculated that the ouster might be due to the Australian's poor performance in the previous edition where the team finished last on the points table. The franchise announced that Sanju Samson would lead the side in 2021 and also roped in former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara as the team's Director of cricket. 

• Players Retained: 

Sanju Samson (Captain), Manan Vohra, David Miller, Jos Buttler, 
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Robin Uthappa, Anuj Rawat, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Karik Tyagi, Shreyas Gopal, Mayank Markande, Andrew Tye

• Players Released:

Steve Smith 

• Remaining Purse: Rs 34.85 crores

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7. Delhi 

Having had their best season last year, Delhi will ride onto their confidence from IPL 2020 as they head into the competition this year. The comparatively young squad led by Shreyas Iyer hasn't seen many changes since the last two reflecting the faith of the management in the players. Going into the mini-auction, Delhi have released only 6 players and retained 19. 

• Players Retained: 

Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Lalit Yadav, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Pravin Dubey, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Chris Woakes, Daniel Sams

• Players Released:

Mohit Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Keemo Paul, Sandeep Lamichhane, Alex Carey and Jason Roy 

• Remaining Purse: Rs 9 crores

8. Kolkata

Similar to most of the franchises, Kolkata has also opted to not hinder most of its squad. However, the franchise has persisted with the captaincy change introduced midway during the IPL 2020 as Eoin Morgan will continue to lead the side in 2021. Incidentally, Kolkata has decided to let go of Tom Banton - a player they onlu acquired last year, who has been projected as a power hitter. The franchise has also reposed its faith in Andre Russell, who failed to make an impact with the bat during the IPL 2020

• Players Retained: 

Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Seifert

• Players Released: Tom Banton, Chris Green, Nikhil Naik, Siddharth M, Siddhesh Lad (and Harry Gurney, Ali Khan)
• Remaining Purse: Rs 10.85 crores