IPL 2021: Sanju Samson to be Rajasthan Royals captain, Shivam Dube released by Royal Challengers Bangalore

Sanju Samson has been appointed the captain of the Rajasthan Royals franchise in IPL 2021 after Steve Smith was released by the franchise. Speaking to the official broadcaster Star Sports, Rajasthan Royals co-owner Manoj Badale confirmed that Sanju Samson will be the captain of the franchise. Sanju Samson is currently leading the Kerala side in the Syed Mushtaq Ali. Shivam Dube, who was touted as the next Yuvraj Singh in domestic cricket, has been released by Royal Challengers Bangalore after an underwhelming IPL 2020.

In the player retention that was taking place on January 20, there were some notable players who were released and retained. Chris Morris of Royal Challengers Bangalore was released while the likes of Parthiv Patel, Dale Steyn, Umesh Yadav and Shivam Dube were all released by the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise. For Sunrisers Hyderabad, they have released two major names in Billy Stanlake and Fabian Allen. Yarra Prithviraj, who was taken as the replacement of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, was also released. Kolkata Knight Riders released Tom Banton and Chris Green while Kings XI Punjab released Glenn Maxwell, Sheldon Cottrell, James Neesham, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Hardus Viljoen. Chennai Super Kings released Shane Watson, Harbhajan Singh, Monu Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Murali Vijay and Piyush Chawla, giving them a purse of Rs 22.9 crore for the auction.

Royal Challengers Bangalore have released 10 players and they have a purse of Rs 35 crore after the likes of Aaron Finch and Isuru Udana were also released. Kings XI Punjab, with the release of Krishnappa Gowtham, Tejinder Dhillon and Karun Nair have the highest purse of Rs 53.5 crore.

A new chapter begins now.

Say hello to your Royals captain. #SkipperSanju | #HallaBol | #IPL2021 | #IPLRetention | @IamSanjuSamson pic.twitter.com/pukyEiyb1B

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) January 20, 2021

Delhi Capitals have released Sandeep Lamichhane, Keemo Paul, Tushar Deshpande and Mohit Sharma as the big names in the side who have been released. Daniel Sams was the first trade of IPL 2021 as he was traded to Royal Challengers Bangalore while Harshal Patel was also traded to RCB. Chris Woakes has also been retained meaning he will play with his replacement with Anrich Nortje in IPL 2021.

Safe release strategy

The teams have opted to play a wait and watch strategy and that is why they have not opted to release many big players. Chennai Super Kings also have a big purse by which they can go for some players in IPL 2021. Kings XI Punjab already have a big purse while Delhi Capitals also have a good amount of money after releasing some players.

#IPL2021 will these Kings play for us again!#SaddaPunjab pic.twitter.com/L3a53VQsw5

— Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) January 20, 2021

The IPL 2021 auction will be held in February and there has not been any major surprise in this player release list apart from Sanju Samson being appointed the captain of the Rajasthan Royals. The release of players like Glenn Maxwell and Steve Smith was on expected lines and it will be interesting to see which franchise they head to.