IPL 2020: 3 players who should have been released for auction
There is already a lot of hype surrounding IPL 2020 and it's only going to increase as the date for the auction gets closer. The IPL Auction 2020 is set to be held in Kolkata on December 19th and the final pool of players who'll take part in the auction will be released by Monday, December 9th.
The franchises have announced the list of players retained and released leading to the auction. This came after a frantic end to the trade window which saw stars like Ajinkya Rahane, Trent Boult, and Ravichandran Ashwin switching sides. There were a few surprising releases like that of Marcus Stoinis (RCB), Chris Lynn (KKR) and Chris Morris (DC). With that being said, there were also a few surprising retentions. Let's take a look at 3 players who should have been released by their teams.
#3 Hardus Viljoen (Kings XI Punjab)
Former Proteas pacer Hardus Viljoen was retained by KXIP ahead of the auction. But frankly, the burly fast bowler didn't deserve to be retained. With 7 wickets in 6 matches at a poor economy rate of 9.65, Viljoen didn't have the desired impact playing for Punjab. Though his overall stats in T20s are good, the graph is clearly showing a decline.
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His performances post the IPL haven't been great either. He played for the St. Lucia Zouks in Caribbean Premier League 2019 and picked up just 6 wickets from 8 matches. He's currently playing for the Paarl Rocks in Mzansi Super League 2019 and isn't having a good season. He has a steep economy rate of 10.24. If this is the case on pacy South African tracks which suit his style of bowling, one can only wonder how much worse it can get on Indian tracks.
Viljoen doesn't add much value to this Punjab side and should have been released to free up an overseas slot which could've helped them in the auction.