IPL 2020: 3 players Royal Challengers Bangalore should have released
The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League will take place in the year 2020. The excitement for the upcoming season has been palpable as all the franchises have revealed the list of the players that they will retain and release. There were a few choices which surprised the fans as the franchises showed no mercy to the last season's under-performers this time around.
Talking about the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Virat Kohli-led franchise grabbed the headlines yesterday by releasing 12 players. RCB ended their association with 5 Indian players and 7 overseas stars ahead of the upcoming edition of IPL. The list includes some big names likes Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Heinrich Klaasen, and Dale Steyn.
The Bangalore-based franchise has a purse of ₹27.90 crores with 18 slots to be filled in the auction. However, the team management could have released 3 out-of-form players before the auction.
This article features the list of those 3 players which the Royal Challengers Bangalore should have released.
Also see - India Bangladesh schedule
#3 Gurkeerat Singh Mann
29-year-old middle-order batsman Gurkeerat Singh Mann has fallen off the Indian team’s radar because of his below-par performances in the domestic circuit. RCB had signed him in 2018 for ₹50 lakhs. However, the Punjab-based player got to play just 3 matches last season.
He made his debut for RCB against the Delhi Capitals and the right-handed batsman could not inspire the team to victory as he lost his wicket in the 19th over of the run chase. RCB lost that match by 16 runs while in the next match, Gurkeerat could not save the day for his team against Rajasthan Royals. Kohli and AB de Villiers had provided a fiery start to RCB but the middle order could not capitalize on the momentum.
Though he played a knock of 65 runs in the team’s last league match, he has struggled to play with consistency. Even in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he has scored 100 runs in 6 matches for Punjab. As RCB have the likes of Shivam Dube and Moeen Ali in their middle order, it would have made sense to release Gurkeerat Singh.