IPL 2019: 3 players that should have been retained, but weren't
15th November was the deadline for submitting the list of retained players and the players the IPL franchises would like to release. With that day gone, the team compositions have come out in the open, which have featured quite a few surprises.
While nearly all the household names and marquee players were retained, there were a few notable exceptions. With just a month to go for the auctions, the franchises had to be ready with their game plan, and looking at the list, they seem to be so.
The 11th edition of the IPL was predicted to be the most competitive one, but it failed to live up to the expectations. So now the franchises have started going about restructuring their teams, and in the process have let go of of an average of 10 players.
Some of those names were completely unexpected. Listed below are three players that should have been retained by their franchises, but they will either be a part of the auction or have already been sent to another team via the trade window.
#3 Mandeep Singh (RCB)
Mandeep Singh is a middle order Indian batsman who plays for Punjab in the domestic circuit. He has been a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore from the 2015 season of the IPL.
Mandeep was brought back into the RCB team in the 2018 auction at the price of 1.4 Cr. He was used as a floater at No. 5 and No. 6, and amassed a total of 252 runs in the 9 innings he played.
That can be termed as a good return for a batsman coming in at that number. Moreover, he has also carried his form in the domestic circuit as well, scoring plenty of runs for Punjab this season.
But unfortunately for him, he was exchanged with Marcus Stoinis, who was a part of KXIP. We will now see Mandeep Singh playing for his home team in the IPL as well.
However, RCB may have missed a trick by not retaining him. Mandeep is a useful player who can play in a variety of positions, and his presence will likely be missed in Kohli's team next year.