Published: Dec 16, 2016, 12:32 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 16, 2016, 12:32 PM (IST)
Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS), are set to release star English batsman Kevin Pietersen, Indian pacer Ishant Sharma along with Rudra Pratap Singh, Irfan Pathan, Saurabh Tiwary and South African all-rounder Albie Morkel before the start of the next season. The Pune-based franchise had a disastrous last season as they finished second from the bottom of the table despite having a star-studded side and being lead by Indian limited-overs skipper MS Dhoni. It is due to disappointing last season, the Kolkata-based owner Sanjiv Goenka (Chairman of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group) has decided to release the above-mentioned players.
According to The Telegraph, the chairman of the Goenka group would be giving a lot more serious attention in the franchise to avoid the debacle of last year. Despite his reputation, Pietersen could just play 4 games for Pune as he was sustained a calf injury which kept on sidelines for the rest of the 2016 IPL season. If the same sources are to be believed, leg-spinner Murugan Ashwin whom the RPS had purchased for whopping Rs.4.5 crore would be sold and brought back for a lesser price.
It was Dhoni who had recommended the names of Ishant, Tiwary, Rudra Pratap and Morkel but the franchise management has made it clear that due to inconsistent performance in 2016, none of these players will be a part of the team in the 2017 season. Out of the above-mentioned players, Morkel is the only player who played with Dhoni in his previous franchise Chennai Super Kings.
A lot of more things are speculated to happen as the IPL 2017 auctions will take place soon (though dates haven’t been declared) and with such changes happening in the Pune franchise, it will be interesting to see which other players are released, if at all and which other teams en-cash on the released players.
