'Might have been in their plans, but he wanted new challenge': Vettori picks IPL teams 'players don't want to come back'

Vettori called the two IPL franchises "underperforming" and who have been "perennially out of the playoffs".

Former New Zealand captain and a legend of the game, Daniel Vettori, picked two teams from the Indian Premier League (IPL) where players do not want to return for the 2022 edition of the IPL after being released from their respective sides, calling the two franchises "underperforming" and who have been "perennially out of the playoffs".

Daniel Vettori (PTI)

Talking to ESPNcricinfo about the IPL retention ahead of the mega auction for the 15th season, Vettori picked England all-rounder Ben Stokes, who was released by Rajasthan Royals, to explain his point, saying that while the franchise might have wanted to retain him, the cricketer wanted a fresh challenge and hence opted to go into the auction pool.

"For franchises like Rajasthan and Kings who have been underperforming and perennially out of the playoffs, players don't always want to come back. They want to explore the opportunities and potentially go to a winning franchise. So someone like Stokes could be that sort of player who may have been in Rajasthan's plans but might have wanted a fresh challenge, a new scenery and a chance to go to a team that has done well in the past," he said.

Rajasthan retained three batter for IPL 2022 - captain Sanju Samson (INR 14 crores), wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler (INR 10 crores) and uncapped Indian player Yashasvi Jaiswal (INR 4 crores). Explaining the logic behin not retaining players like Stokes and Jofra Archer, Vettori also explained that "injury and workload" could be a factor in Rajasthan deciding not to go ahead with the two players.

"That could be one scenario. The other factor is just his injury and workload concerns and that he and Archer play so much cricket, how are they going to be available for full seasons and we have seen in the past that they haven't been so I am sure that those things play a part," Vettori added.

Punjab Kings, on the other hand, retained Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh for INR 12 crores and INR 4 crores respectively.

Their biggest absentee from the retention list was KL Rahul, but Anil Kumble, the director of cricket operations of PBKS, revealed that the captain had decided to move on.

Speaking on Star Sports, Kumble said: "Obviously we wanted to retain him, that is one of the reasons we chose him as captain two years back. But he decided to go into the auction. We respect that, we honour his decision. It's the player's prerogative."