Only one Australian cricketer retained by Indian Premier League franchises

David Warner’s Indian Premier League fate has officially been sealed as only one Australian cricketers was retained by a franchise.

Aaron Finch of Australia celebrates with the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Trophy. Photo by Gareth Copley-ICC/ICC via Getty Images

David Warner’s fate has been sealed after Sunrisers Hyderabad opted to release the Australian batter ahead of the Indian Premier League mega-auction.

Earlier this year, Warner was dropped from the Hyderabad starting XI following a series of poor performances in the first leg of the IPL — New Zealand’s Kane Williamson replaced him as captain.

The 35-year-old finished the T20 tournament with 195 runs from eight knocks at a pitiful strike rate of 107.73 — no player scored more runs at a slower rate than Warner in this year’s edition of the IPL.

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However, Warner more than redeemed himself at last month’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, where he was named Player of the Tournament. The swashbuckling left-hander was instrumental in Australia’s maiden T20 title campaign, scoring 289 runs in seven knocks at a strike rate of 146.70.

But Warner’s World Cup feats were not enough to avoid being released by Sunrisers from his $2.3 million contract — the Aussie will subsequently need to find a new franchise for next year’s IPL.

“Thanks to all of you for your support over the years, up and downs, my family and I can’t stress enough how much we appreciated the love and passion you showed towards us and the team,” Warner wrote on social media.

“Candice and I truly wish all the fans the very best for the future and hope whoever you wish to support the best.”

David Warner, former captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Photo by Qamar Sibtain/The India Today Group via Getty Images

Hyderabad retained Williamson for AUD$2.61 million along with Indian young guns Umran Malik and Abdul Samad.

Each IPL franchise was permitted to keep up to four players including a maximum of three Indians, two overseas players and two uncapped Indian players.

But incredibly, Glenn Maxwell was the only Australian to be retained ahead of the IPL mega-auction, with the Royal Challengers Bangalore offering the Victorian a $2 million contract — $500,000 less than last season.

IPL champion Josh Hazlewood was left off the Chennai Super King list, while T20 World Cup heroes Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis and Pat Cummins were also released.

However, all the players who have opted out or failed to make the list of retained players will likely feature in the upcoming auctions, which are expected to occur in late December or early January.

The 2022 edition of the IPL will have two new teams from Ahmedabad and Lucknow, bringing the total to 10 for the lucrative T20 tournament that attracts global stars to India.

Ahmedabad and Lucknow have until Christmas Day to hire three players of their own.

Has to be one the first times in the #IPL that only a single Australian (@Gmaxi_32) has been retained ahead of a big #IPLAuction & ironically at a time Australia have just been crowned T20 World Cup champions for the first time #IPLRetention

— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) November 30, 2021

England superstars Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer were released by the Rajasthan Royals ahead of the auction, while England captain Eoin Morgan parted ways with Kolkata Knight Riders.

The Royals retained three players, including skipper Sanju Samson and England batter Jos Buttler ahead of the upcoming IPL.

“We had to take a lot of factors into consideration while making this decision and would have ideally liked to have gone with four players but the uncertainty surrounding Jofra’s long-term injury forced us to retain only three,” Royals director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara said.

“It was certainly a tough decision to make, but we are delighted to confirm that Sanju (Samson), Jos and Yashasvi (Jaiswal) will be staying with us as the backbone of our team.”

Kolkata will be looking for a new captain after releasing Morgan, who led them to the final this season, losing to MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings in October.

Meanwhile, Indian batter Virat Kohli will stay at Royal Challengers Bangalore after stepping down as captain of the franchise but taking a pay cut.

Kohli, who previously had the biggest IPL annual salary of $3.79 million, has been retained for a lesser sum of $2.8 million.

“Did not have any second thoughts. Amazing journey and continues for three more years,” Kohli said.

“I believe the best is yet to come. Committed as ever as an RCBian. We hope we make you (fans) very proud. You will see a different version of me but I will be there with my heart and soul.”

IPL retained players

Chennai Super Kings — Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Delhi Capitals — Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje.

Kolkata Knight Riders — Andre Russell, Varun Chakaravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine.

Mumbai Indians — Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard.

Punjab Kings — Mayank Agarwal, Arshdeep Singh.

Rajasthan Royals — Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Royal Challengers Bangalore — Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj.

Sunrisers Hyderabad — Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad, Umran Malik

Australians sold during last year’s IPL auction

Jhye Richardson (Punjab Kings, $A2.48m), Nathan Coulter-Nile (Mubai Indians, $A885,000), Steve Smith (Delhi Capitals, A389,000), Riley Meredith (Kings XI Punjab, $1.4 million), Dan Christian (Royal Challengers Bangalore, $850,000), Moises Henriques (Kings XI Punjab, $744,000), Ben Cutting (Kolkata Knight Riders, $133,000)

Australians retained detained last season’s IPL auction

Marcus Stoinis (Delhi Capitals, $980,000) Daniel Sams (RCB, $38,000), Pat Cummins (KKR, $3.16m), Chris Lynn (Mumbai Indians $408,000), Andrew Tye (RCB, $204,000), Adam Zampa (RCB, $287,000) and Kane Richardson (RCB, $816,000).

— with AFP

Originally published as Only one Australian cricketer retained by Indian Premier League franchises