IPL 2019: Ben Stokes, Manish Pandey, Jaydev Unadkat could be released by their franchises - Report

Stokes, Pandey, and Unadkat were the big-ticket buys at the auctions last year, but they could not live up to the billing and had mediocre tournaments.

Ahead of the IPL 2019 auctions, franchises are contemplating releasing a number of big-ticket signings in a bid to beef up their purse. The players who hogged all the headlines and attracted massive bids were KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Jaydev Unadkat, and Ben Stokes.

Ben Stokes did not have a very good IPL 2018 season (NurPhoto via Getty Images)

However, barring KL Rahul, the other players mentioned above were largely underpar and did not justice to the price tag attached with them. Hence, the franchises now want to release them.

According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, Sunrisers Hyderabad have made up their mind to let go of Manish Pandey. The right-hander had a mediocre season at best as he managed to score only 284 runs in the tournament. SRH had paid Rs 11 Crore for him and the performance did not quite add up.

As far as Rajasthan Royals are concerned, they were the big buyers at the auction last year. They acquired the services of Ben Stokes after the all-rounder was named player of the tournament in 2017, but could not live up to his billing. The all-rounder could only manage to score 196 runs and picked up just a solitary wicket before he had to leave the league owing to national commitments. The Jaipur-based franchise might just let him go as the England player might leave the tournament early to prepare for the World Cup.

Also, Rajasthan have all but decided to release Jaydev Unadkat, who was picked up for a whopping Rs 11.5 Crore in IPL 2018 auction. However, the left-arm seamer could pick only 11 wickets and even lost his spot in India’s T20I side.