One Indian player each franchise could release before IPL 2019
The 12th edition of the lucrative Indian T20 league is likely to be affected due to the general elections in the country in May 2019. It is highly likely that the tournament will be hosted either in UAE or South Africa for its forthcoming season next year.
The preparations for the cash-rich league are already underway with franchises figuring out their squads much ahead of the next edition. With auction likely to be scheduled in the second half of December, teams have very less time in hand to consider their best possible squads for IPL 2019.
Most of the teams have gone about their business with ease in trading players with other teams from the league. The teams have looked to make the most of the first trading window in their quest to find the right balance before they go into the auction.
The most talked about trade saw Shikhar Dhawan returning to Delhi Daredevils in place of Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem, and Abhishek Sharma. This might prove to be a lifeline for Delhi as they hope to end their 11-year drought of being devoid of any IPL trophy.
As we near the IPL auctions for the twelfth time in its history, here's looking at some of the Indian players who could be released ahead of the auctions:
#1 Chennai Super Kings - Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan, often known as the Turbanator of Indian cricket, shifted his base for the first time in IPL history ahead of the 11th edition of the league. After being not retained by the three-time champions in Mumbai Indians, Singh was bought by Chennai Super Kings to strengthen their spin bowling stocks for IPL 2018. Harbhajan who didn't interest any other franchise was bought at his base price of INR 2 crores.
In the 13 games in the season, Bhajji could only manage 7 wickets though with an impressive economy of 7.05. Skipper Dhoni always thought of the off-spinner as the defensive option who could go on to contain runs. It might be no surprise if CSK might release Harbhajan ahead of the season to rope in any other young attacking option in their ranks. This might be evil signs for the ageing off-spinner but he might have to face the brunt ahead of the IPL auctions.