11 players who have returned to their former IPL teams
The Indian Premier League 2018 is all set to be different in many ways, after a mega auction that saw most teams revamping their rosters to a massive extent.
It is believed that their performance in the auction goes on to decide their fate in the tournament.
Anything can happen in it, and one of the things is one franchise losing out to another, on some players who had performed exceptionally well for them in the past.
But the good news for them and their supporters is that seven out of the eight franchises managed to buy back at least one player, who returned to their roster after spending a season or more with another side.
Here's a look at eleven players who have returned to their former sides and could go on and be the difference maker to their team’s fortunes.
#1 Gautam Gambhir
Arguably, the biggest change in the IPL 2018 will be to see Gautam Gambhir wearing the Delhi Daredevils colours again after spending seven seasons away from them.
The feisty left-handed opener’s first IPL team was the Daredevils, playing for his home city from 2008-2010. Individually, he saw a good amount of success during that time, scoring 1097 runs across 40 matches at an average of 30.47.
His form and the ability to lead from the front by example impressed the Kolkata Knight Riders, who picked him up at a whopping Rs.11.04 crores in the 2011 auction. That made him the then most expensive player ever in IPL history.
During his reign, KKR won the IPL twice in 2012 and 2014 and made it to the playoffs in 2011, 2016 and 2017. A far better result than their first three years.
Delhi bought him back for Rs. 2.8 crore this season, fulfilling Gambhir’s wish that he wanted to end his career helping his home city win the IPL title for the first time ever.
Surely, the 36-year-old will go all out to ensure that the dream turns into reality this season itself.