All the IPL franchises were given a deadline of 15th of November, 5 pm, to announce their list of retained and released players. Royal Challengers Bangalore announced those lists, and the majority of their players were retained from the IPL 2022 squad.
However, RCB released 5 players to make room for new players they could target in the auction. By releasing these players, RCB is going to save 2 crores and 40 lakh INR for the auction. Also, RCB now has a purse of 8.75 crore INR along with the two overseas slots for the mini-auction.
Underlying is the list of RCB-released players for IPL 2023:
. Sherfane Rutherford
-
Image Source: RCB news
Sherfane Rutherford is the most expensive player amongst the RCB-released players. He was bought for 1 crore INR for the previous IPL season. The southpaw warmed the bench for almost the whole season. He was included in the playing eleven thrice and got an opportunity to bat only twice.
These two outings brought no joy to him or RCB, as he had a horrible IPL in 2022. In his first outing with the bat, Sherfane managed 28 runs against the Kolkata Knight Riders. But these 28 runs came in 40 balls at a miserable strike rate of 70. He was given another opportunity against Rajasthan Royals, but the fortunes refused to take a turn for him. He played another poor knock of 5 runs while consuming 10 deliveries.
In the two matches combined, the leftie could get only 33 runs while playing 50 balls. His strike rate was 66, while he was averaging 16.5 in these two games. Also, he was able to hit only one four and a six in the competition.
The 24-year-old is known for his six-hitting ability and has played in several leagues around the world. However, his T20 numbers don’t look impressive. In his 85 T20 innings, Sherfane has accumulated 1559 runs at a below-par average of 23.26. His strike rate of just 130.02 clearly doesn’t reflect his ball-striking ability.
Rutherford made his T20 International debut for West Indies in 2018. But he has also been unimpressive at this level. His 4 T20I knocks have given him just 43 runs while striking 119.44. Bearing all these reasons in mind, the decision to release him certainly makes sense.
. Jason Behrendorff
-
Image from indiafantasy.com
RCB roped in the Aussie quick for 75 lakh INR for the IPL 2022. Unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance to showcase his ability with the ball. The left arm didn’t get even a single game throughout the entire IPL season.
Before 2022, Jason was part of the Mumbai Indians team in the IPL 2019. In that tournament, he played 5 games and picked as many wickets while giving away runs at an economy of 8.68. Those unimpressive numbers saw him being left out of the Mumbai Indians squad.
The 6’4″ tall pacer has got a decent record in the T20 format. He has featured in 105 T20 games and picked up 117 scalps. Jason’s economy rate of 7.41 looks quite impressive, and these stats make him look like a fine T20 bowler. While playing for Australia in white-ball cricket, Jason has bagged 23 wickets in 21 games.
However, RCB has Josh Hazelwood in their squad, and as long as he is there, Behrendorff is hardly going to get any chances. Also, playing him in an overseas slot was not ideal in the presence of Faf du Plessis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Glenn Maxwell, and Josh Hazelwood. Therefore, the Royals made a wise decision to release him.
. Chama Milind
-
Image from Crictips
RCB spent 25 lakh INR for the 28-year-old Indian medium pacer. He didn’t get a go in the 15th season of the Indian Premier League and has now been dropped from the squad. Chama has a super impressive T20 bowling record with 86 wickets in 58 innings at an economy rate of 7.75. But these stats didn’t help him keep his place in the Royal Challengers Bangalore team, and he got his name amongst the RCB-released players for IPL 2023.
. Aneeshwar Gautam
-
Image Credit Moneyball
Aneeshwar is a talented teenager who has represented India in Under-19 cricket. He is an orthodox left-hand spinner who can bat decently down the order. RCB bought him for 20 lakh INR in the mega-auction. But after not getting a chance in IPL 2022, he has now been released from the RCB squad.
. Luvnith Sisodia
-
Image from Cricket. one/news/
Sisodia is the last man on the list of 5 RCB released players ahead of the IPL 2023 auction. The 22-year-old is yet to make his IPL debut, and now he hopes to do it for some other franchise. In his 15 T20 games, he has scored just 124 runs at a strike rate of just 127.8.
