Which players are released by IPL Franchise before IPL 2021? Who got retained by the Franchise? IPL 2021 Squad Analysis.

 Today on 20th January 2021, four IPL teams released the list of released and retained players for IPL 2021. With few releases being expected, few were very surprising and shocking. Let's see the list of players released and retained by CSK, RCB, RR, and KXIP. 

Mumbai Indians

    After retaining the IPL title last year and winning it for the 4th time, Mumbai Indians will look to become the first team to make a hat-trick of winning IPL.

Players released by MI:-

1. Lasith Malinga

2. Nathan Counter-Nile

3. James Pattinson

4. Rutherford

5. Digvijay Deshmukh

6. Price Balwant 

7. Mitchell McClenaghan

Players retained by MI:-

1. Rohit Sharma

2. Jasprit Bumrah

3. Chris Lynn

4. Suryakumar Yadav

5. Quinton De Kock

6. Hardik Pandya

7. Kiron Pollard

8. Krunal Pandya

9. Trent Boult

10. Sourabh Tiwari

11. Rahul Chahar

12. Dhawal Kulkarni

13. Ishan Kishan

14. Aditiya Tare

15. Moshin Khan

16. Jayant Yadav

17. Anukul Roy

18. Anmolpreet Singh

ANALYSIS - Mumbai Indians gave the biggest shock one got suppose of by releasing their marquee player Lasith Malinga. Out of their 4 IPL victory, Malinga has contributed to all 4. Even McClenaghan's release came as a shock but it could be justified as you have Trent Boult in the team. 

    The retained list of players consists of the playing XI which won the IPL 2020, so there will be no comments whether it was good or not. 

        MI's decision of releasing and retaining players was Great.

Chennai Super Kings

    IPL 2020 was by far the most unsuccessful year for CSK in IPL. After ending 7th in the points table CSK will aim to make a very strong comeback in this season's IPL. MS Dhoni will be leading the side this year as well, and Suresh Raina will be back in the side. 

Players released by CSK:-

1. Piyush Chawla 

2. Kedar Jadhav 

3. Murli Vijay

4. Harbhajan Singh

5. Monu Kumar Singh

6. Shane Watson (Retired)

Players Retained by CSK:-

1. MS Dhoni

2. Ravindra Jadeja

3. Suresh Raina

4. Faf Du Plessis

5. Sam Curran

6. Dwayne Bravo

7. Josh Hazlewood

8. Lungi Ngidi

9. Ambati Rayudu

10. Karn Sharma

11. Mitchell Santner

12. Shardul Thakur

13. N Jagadeesan

14. Imran Tahir

15. Deepak Chahar

16. KM Asif

17. R Sai Kishore

18. R. Gaikwad

ANALYSIS - Kedar Jadhav has been the greatest upset for CSK in the past season. His continuous failure in the batting area had disturbed the CSK lineup very much. Piyush Chawla had very less role to do the previous year as in most matches he was benched. With Harbhajan Singh's contract being over, CSK might look to buy him again from the Auctions. Murli Vijay was again upset for the team and it's good for the team to release him.

    There were many rumors that CSK could release Suresh Raina, but practically CSK's poor performance last season was due to the absence of Raina in the squad, so there was no chance they would release him. N Jagadeesan, R Gaikwad will be the man to look out for. MS Dhoni, Jadeja, Sam Curran, Faf Du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar will also play a very vital role.

        CSK's decision of releasing and retaining players was accurate. 

Royal Challengers Bangalore

    After a good start last season, RCB once again choked at the end of the season and finish 4th in the points table, and became the first team to get eliminated in the playoffs. This season they will again look for that special spark and let's see what is in store for them.

Players released by RCB:-

1. Moeen Ali

2. Shivam Dube

3. Gurkeerat Singh Mann

4. Aaron Finch

5. Chris Morris

6. Pawan Negi

7. Parthiv Patel (Retired)

8. Dale Steyn 

9. Isuru Udana

10. Umesh Yadav

Players retained by RCB:-

1. Virat Kohli

2. AB de Villiers

3. Yuzvendra Chahal

4. Devdutt Padikkal

5. Wahington Sundar

6. Mohammad Siraj

7. Navdeep Saini

8. Adam Zampa

9. Shahbaz Ahmed

10. Josh Phillipe

11. Kane Richardson

12. Pavan Deshpande

ANALYSIS - Moeen Ali and Shivam Dube's release is highly disappointing for RCB's side. Shivam Dube was a misused talent and Moeen on the other side showed his class in the past but was not properly used in IPL 2020. The release of Gurkeerat, Aaron Finch, Pawan Negi, Isuru Udana was required for making space in the squad. Chris Morris came into the squad as an all-rounder but he was only contributing with the bowl. And RCB could aim for better pace bowlers in place of Morris. Umesh Yadav on the other side is a good test bowler but his bowling in IPL has been the most disappointing. 

    On the other hand, RCB came to a decision of retaining Kane Richardson, Pavan Deshpande, and Shahbaz Ahmed. Moeen Ali and Shivam Dube would have been a 100 times better option. And the rest, Virat Kohli, ABD, Chahal was ought to be retained. Devdutt Padikkal, Mohd Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sunder would be entertaining to watch out for. 

        RCB's decision of retaining and releasing players were not up to the mark.

Kings XI Punjab

After a ridiculous start for KXIP last year, they were able to almost, almost pull off a miracle of qualifying but couldn't make it. They will look for it in the coming season.

Players released by KXIP:- 

1. Glenn Maxwell

2. Sheldon Cottrell

3. Krishnappa Gowtham

4. Mujeeb Ur Rahman

5. Jimmy Neesham

6. Karun Nair

7. H. Viljoen

8. Tajinder S.

Players retained by KXIP:-

1. KL Rahul

2. Chris Gayle

3. Mohd Shami

4. Nicolas Pooran

5. Mandeep Singh

6. Mayank Aggarwal

7. Chris Jordan

8. Ravi Bishnoi

9. Prabsimran

10. Deepak Hooda

11. Sarfaraz Khan

12. Arshdeep Singh

13. Murugan Ashwin

14. Ishan Porel

15. Harpreet

ANALYSIS - Last year's team of KXIP was not at all bad, but the management could not pull off the perfect playing XI in their first 7 matches. Chris Gayle entered the team after 8 matches and then they started winning. The release of Glenn Maxwell was very much expected. Sheldon Cotrell, Krishnappa Gowtham, and Jimmy Neesham also could not make an impact last year. But Mujeeb is a very young talent and he could have been given a chance.

    On the other hand, it was expected who all are gonna be retained by KXIP. Young talents such as Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi would be worth watching. Chris Jordan could have been released but it's okay if they are giving him a chance as a pace option in the team and not giving Mujeeb because they already had a leggie option. 

        KXIP's decision of retaining and releasing was Good.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

After a very good season last year, SRH was in no mood in touching their squad much. 

Player released by SRH:- 

1. Billy Stanlakee

2. Fabien Allen

3. Sanjay Yadav

4. B Sandeep

5. Yarra Prithvi Raj

Players retained by SRH:-

1. David Warner

2. Kane Williamson

3. Jason Holder

4. Priyam Garg

5. Bhuveneshwar Kumar

6. Manish Panday

7. T Natarajan

8. Khaleel Ahmad

9. Wriddhiman Saha

10. Rashid Khan

11. Vijay Shankar

12. Johnny Bairstow

13. Sandeep Sharma

14. Mitchell Marsh

15. Rashid Khan

16. Mohd Nabi

17. Shreevats Goswami

18. Abhisekh Sharma

19. Basil Thampi

20. Shahbaz Nadeem

21. Abdul Samad

22. Siddhart Kaul

23. Virat Singh

ANALYSIS - Every player who wasn't a vital part of IPL 2020 got released, and big performers from the teams are retained. T Natarajan who got to live his dream in recent India's tour to Australia will be glad to look out for. Among the youngster, Abdul Samad will be the X-factor.

        

        SRH's decision of releasing and retaining players was accurate.

Kolkata Knight Riders

    After an unexpected mediocre season, KKR will look to build their team more and come to this season. Not many releases but non-vital players are released.

Players released by KKR:-

1. Tom Banton

2. Chris Green

3. Nikhil Naik

4. Manimaran Siddhart 

5. Siddesh Lad

Players retained by KKR:-

1. Eoin Morgan

2. Dinesh Kartik

3. Nitish Rana

4. Subhman Gill

6.Andre Russell

7. Sunil Narine

8. Patt Cummins

9. Kuldeep Yadav

10. Lockie Ferguson

11. R. Singh

12. Rahul Tripathi

13. K. Nagarkoti

14. Prasidh Krishna

15. Sandeep Warrier

16. Varun Chakraborty

17. Shivam Mavi

18. T. Seifert

ANALYSIS - Last year KKR had so much talent but their over-dependency on Narine, Russell spoiled their game. Tom Banton was given very few chances last year but could make full use of it. Subhman Gill also the player to watch out for. If every player from the KKR squad gets in form, the retained player list is enough to win IPL. 

    KKR's decision of releasing and retaining players was Great.

Delhi Capitals

Delhi Capitals is the most evolving team indeed. Their last 2 seasons were mindblowing. First, they reached the playoffs, then they reached the finals for the first time. And this year they will surely look to win the title.

Players released by DC:-

1. Mohit Sharma

2. T. Deshpande

3. Keemo Paul

4. Sandeep Lamichhane

5. Alex Carey

6. Jason Roy

Players retained by DC:-

1. Shreyash Iyer

2. Shikhar Dhawan

3. Prithvi Shaw

4. Ajinke Rahane

5. Rishabh Pant

6. Amit Mishra

7. Ravichandra Ashwin

8. Ishant Sharma

9. Kagiso Rabada

10. Axar Patel

11. L. Yadav

12. Harshal Patel

13. Chris Woakes

14. Andre Nortje

15. Shimron Hetmyer

16. A. Khan

17. Daniel Sams

18. Pravin Dubey

ANALYSIS - DC was the most accurate team after CSK, who have managed to release non-vital players and retain all who were required. With Delhi buying some middle-order all-rounders they will be really invincible.

        DC's decision of retaining and releasing players was Accurate.

Rajasthan Royals

    After a disappointing season last year, they will look to be a better team this year.

Players released by RR:-

1. Steven Smith

2. Varun Aaron

3. Tom Curran

4. Akash

5. Ankit  Rajput

6. Aniruddha Joshi

7. Shashank Singh

Players released by RR:-

1. Sanju Samson

2. Ben Strokes

3. Josh Buttler

4. Jofra Archer

5. Jaydev Unadkat

6. Robin Uthappa

7. Yashasvi Jaiswal 

8. Mayank Markande

9. Kartik Tyagi

10. Andrew Tye

11. David Miller

12. Rayan Parag

13. Rahul Tewatia

14. Anuj Rawat

15. Mahipal

16. Shreyas Gopal

17. Manan Vohra

ANALYSIS - Releasing Steven Smith was a very shocking move by Rajasthan Royals. Just based on last year's performance, it is not fair to release Smith. Ankit Rajput also deserved a place. 

    On the other hand, Anuj Rawar, Mahipal wasn't as important as others but they got retained. This might be done just to increase their wallet which they will use in the Auction.

        RR's decision of releasing and retaining players was disappointing.