The Indian T20 League 2023 mini-auction is set to take place on December 23, in Kochi and the teams announced their retention list on November 15, Tuesday. The most surprising release came from Chennai and Hyderabad as they released Dwayne Bravo and Kane Williamson respectively. However, prior to the release of the lists, there were reports claiming that the Rajasthan franchise might as well release India’s off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who played a vital role for the franchise in the previous edition of the contest.
However, post the release of the retention list, the Rajasthan franchise took a dig at those who spread rumours claiming that the franchise are all set to release the veteran spinner. Replying to the rumours with a single tweet, Rajasthan tweeted, “Did you really think?!” and shut the haters.
Rassie van der Dussen out of Rajasthan
While Rajasthan went on to retain in-form batter and 20-20 World Cup 2022 winning captain Jos Buttler, Rassie van der Dussen, the South African batter, was eventually shown the way out of the franchise ahead of the next edition.
James Neesham, the star T20I batter from New Zealand was eventually released alongside Daryl Mitchell, Karun Nair and Nathan Coulter-Nile and it remains to see if the Rajasthan franchise would come up with a balanced squad for the next edition.
While Sanju Samson is all set to continue as the captain of the team, the experience of Yuzvendra Chahal, Ashwin, and Buttler might come in handy, eventually making things easier for the team to clinch the title, which they missed against Gujarat in the summit clash of the last edition.
The Indian T20 League 2023 would be a start of a new era as big names like Kieron Pollard, Robin Uthappa, and a few others have bid goodbye to their respective teams. However, the allrounder from West Indies is all set to continue his stint with the Mumbai franchise as the batting coach in the approaching season. The upcoming season might also be the last time fans might witness Indian great MS Dhoni in the yellow jersey, as there are reports that claim that the former Indian wicketkeeper might join the Indian coaching department in some capacity.
