Parthiv takes a dig at RCB on getting ‘released after being retired’

The preparations for the 14th season of Indian Premier League (IPL) have begun as all the 8 franchises on Wednesday announced the list of released and retained players. The teams have made some serious calls while parting ways with some of the big names ahead of the mini-auction, which is likely to be held next month.

Meanwhile, former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel took a dig on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on getting 'released after being retired'. The former cricketer took to Twitter and wrote, “An absolute honour to be released after being retired . ... thank you @RCBTweets.”

Here’s the tweet:

An absolute honour to be released after being retired . ... thank you @RCBTweets

— parthiv patel (@parthiv9) January 20, 2021

RCB, on the other hand, didn’t mention the word ‘release’ while describing Parthiv’s departure in the official statement.

“Parthiv Patel, who announced his retirement from all forms of cricket is the other obvious omission from the squad,” the RCB statement read.

Parthiv, who remains the youngest wicket-keeper to play Test cricket, joined RCB in the 2018 edition and also played the role of an opener. He played 20 matches for the franchise and amassed 526 runs. However, he didn’t find a spot in the playing XI throughout the last season which held in the UAE.

Last month, on December 9, Parthiv announced his retirement from the international cricketer. Later, he joined his former franchise Mumbai Indians as a talent scout.

For the upcoming IPL season, RCB have retained a total of 12 players from the squad of 2020.

RCB retained players: Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Gurkeerat Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Joshua Philippe, Pavan Deshpande, Shahbaz Ahamad, Adam Zampa.

RCB Released Players: Umesh Yadav, Chris Morris, Moeen Ali, Aaron Finch, Isuru Udana, Dale Steyn, Gurkeerat Mann, Shivam Dube, Pawan Negi, Parthiv Patel (retired).