A total of 85 players were released by the 10 Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises ahead of the IPL 2023 auction, while 163 players, including 50 overseas, were retained.
Three franchises – Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Mumbai Indians – made wholesale changes by releasing more than ten players each, whereas defending champions Gujarat Titans cut ties with only 6 players.
Some of the established names of T20 cricket, such as Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, and two captains, too, from last season – Kane Williamson and Mayank Agarwal – were being let go.
In this article, we will form the best XI of the remaining players of each franchise:
Mumbai Indians Best XI from retained players:
Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Hrithik Shokeen, Jofra Archer, Kumar Kartikeya, Jason Behrendorff, Jasprit Bumrah
This looks like a really solid, and title-winning XI already, for MI. They retained their Indian core from last season along with the young overseas players they had signed in the auction or called up as replacements. They are expecting Jofra Archer to return fit next season and take the IPL by storm along with Bumrah and Behrendorff, who they traded in from RCB.
Chennai Super Kings Best XI from retained players:
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c&wk), Dwaine Pretorius, Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Choudhary
Dwaine Pretorius is set to take the death-overs bowling role from Bravo and Deepak Chahar’s return is a big boost for CSK. CSK might just take the field with this XI in their first match of IPL 2023. As Dhoni prefers, they have 7 bowling options in this XI.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Best XI from retained players:
Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Glenn Phillips (wk), Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, T. Natarajan & Umran Malik.
SRH have released Williamson but continue to have fire-power in the middle. They will need a captain, though. Aiden Markram, who captained the South Africa under-19 team, and vice-captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar are alternatives if SRH can’t buy back Williamson. Their bowling attack currently looks strong.
Royal Challengers Bangalore Best XI from retained players:
Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood & Mohammed Siraj
RCB had a good last season as they reached the Qualifier 2, and hence they kept most of their squad members, releasing only 5 players, none of whom was part of their best side. Therefore, their XI from the retained players is also their best XI from last season. They will, though, want to find a way to include Finn Allen in the line-up, but the 4 overseas players are certain to start.
Gujarat Titans Best XI from retained players:
Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), B Sai Sudarsan, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Matthew Wade, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Shami, Yash Dayal.
Ferguson is the one player from the defending champions’ line-up that has been released (traded to KKR), rest they have retained most of the players who got to play last season.
Rajasthan Royals Best XI from retained players:
Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c&wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Obed McCoy, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal
RR released 9 players out of which only Neesham played a good amount of games. Rest, this retain RR side is similar to what they were most of the times last season.
Lucknow Super Giants Best XI from retained players:
KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Deepak Hooda, Kyle Mayers, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Mark Wood, Avesh Khan
LSG surprisingly released some established overseas players like Holder, Evin Lewis, Chameera, and Tye. They will be hoping that Mark Wood is fit this time and that strengthens their bowling.
Delhi Capitals Best XI from retained players:
David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (c&wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Rovman Powell, Axar Patel, Chetan Sakariya, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Khaleel Ahmed.
The Capitals released only 5 players, including Shardul Thakur who is traded to KKR. Hence, their XI is pretty much set.
Punjab King’s Best XI from retained players:
Shikhar Dhawan (c), Jonny Bairstow, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Shahrukh Khan, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Rishi Dhawan, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar & Arshdeep Singh.
With new skipper Dhawan, Punjab have retained their powerhouse batters and have experienced pacers. Their XI from the retained players bores a familiar look.
Kolkata Knight Riders Best XI from retained players:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
KKR have the smallest purse of all teams despite releasing several players. They have retained some quality but out-of-form players too, but they have traded in three players, all of which could start next season. They XI of the players looks comparatively stronger than what they took the field with last season.
