Yuvraj shown the door

Chandigarh, November 15 

Kings XI Punjab on Thursday parted ways with local boy and India’s 2011 World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh.

Yuvraj, who was bought by Kings XI Punjab at his base price of Rs 2 crore in the previous auction, managed just 65 runs at a poor average of 10.38 in the eight games last season. 

Apart from the 36-year-old left-hander, the franchisee released eight other players, including Australia’s limited overs skipper Aaron Finch, ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction next month.

The side, however, retained captain Ravichandran Ashwin, their fiery opening duo of Chris Gayle and Lokesh Rahul and bowling spearheads Andrew Tye and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. 

Speedster Ankit Singh Rajpoot, South African dasher David Miller, Karun Nair and Mayank Agarwal were also retained by the franchisee, while they traded Marcus Stoinis for local boy Mandeep Singh.

“We have retained all core players. We have ensured that the balance of the squad is ensured. A lot of factors came in while retaining the players,” said newly-appointed KXIP coach Mike Hesson. 

Besides Yuvraj and Finch, left-arm-spinner Axar Patel is another name on the released list of the players. Interestingly, Axar was the only player to be retained by the team that was completely rejigged in 2017.

The other players released by the Punjab side are Mohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Barinder Sran, Akshdeep Nath, Pradeep Sahoo, Mayank Dagar, Ben Dwarshuis and Manzoor Dar. — TNS/Agencies 

In and Out 

Retained: R Ashwin, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Andrew Tye, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ankeet Rajpoot, Chris Gayle, David Miller

Released: Yuvraj Singh, Aaron Finch, Mohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Barinder Sran, Akshdeep Nath, Pradeep Sahoo, Mayank Dagar, Manzoor Dar, Axar Patel, Ben Dwarshuis

Traded: Marcus Stoinis for Mandeep Singh