In the past 16 editions of the Indian Premier League, there have been some shocking player releases that have come back to haunt the franchises. Franchises have let go of star players who were already established or were making their mark. These decisions have changed the course of their franchises and even hindered their success. So, here are the biggest player release blunders made in the IPL.
| Player | Released by | Price |
|---|---|---|
| AB de Villiers | Delhi Daredevils* | INR 1.3 crore |
| Suryakumar Yadav | Kolkata Knight Rider | INR 70 lakh |
| Chris Gayle | Kolkata Knight Rider | INR 3.7 crore |
| Andre Russell | Delhi Daredevils* | INR 2.3 crore |
| David Warner | Delhi Daredevils* | INR 3.9 crore |
Biggest player release blunders by franchises in IPL
- AB de Villiers: Considered to be one of the best T20 batters of all time, AB was let go by Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) ahead of the 2011 season. Until then, the former Proteas skipper hadn’t proved himself in the IPL. However, his release meant that the 360° batter went to RCB. He finished his IPL career with them, scoring 4522 runs at a mind-boggling strike rate of 158.33.
- Chris Gayle: The Universal Boss was released by KKR ahead of the 2011 season in spite of his great record (average of 30 and strike rate of over 140). Similar to AB, Gayle also went to RCB, where he dominated the batters for the next 7 seasons. The southpaw ended his IPL career with nearly 5000 runs at a strike rate of just under 150.
- Andre Russell: Destructive. The word often used to describe Dre Rus. The Windies all-rounder has demolished sides single-handedly in the IPL. He was released by Delhi ahead of the 2014 season and has been with KKR ever since. Although Russell had poor numbers, he should have been stuck with. Apart from being the second-highest wicket-taker for KKR, he is also the third-highest run scorer for them.
- Suryakumar Yadav: The No. 1 T20I batter was let go by KKR when he was worth just INR 70 lakh. Since moving to the Mumbai Indians ahead of the 2018 season, Surya has scored over 2500 runs at a strike rate of over 145 in five seasons. He also has two title wins since his release in 2017.
- David Warner: The third-highest run scorer in IPL was released by Delhi Daredevils ahead of the 2014 season. Much like other releases by DD, this one also came back to bite them. Warner went to SRH and remained with them for 8 seasons, scoring 4014 runs (most for them) and leading them to their only title in 2016. However, Delhi has failed to win a title in the past 16 seasons.
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