By Matt Hardy
Former Test captain Joe Root and star England bowler Jofra Archer have not been retained by their IPL franchises as T20 cricket league teams confirmed their sides ahead of the auction.
Root has not been retained by the Rajasthan Royals while Archer, along with fellow bowler Chris Jordan, have been let go by the Mumbai Indians.
IPL franchises can be ruthless in their selection process given they must operate to a salary cap and releasing or trading players ahead of last night’s deadline opens up space to bid for big players in the upcoming auction, which tackles place in Dubai on 19 December.
Elsewhere, in an apparent exodus of English players, the likes of David Willey, Harry Brook, Adil Rashid and Phil Salt have been released by their respective franchises.
This comes as Ben Stokes confirmed last week he would not play in the 2024 IPL to manage his workload.
England have a Test series in India next March and a T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and United States in June. Some players have decided to focus on that, rather than [play next spring’s IPL.
Jason Roy has been retained by the Kolkata Knight Riders while Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone and Sam Curran will remain at the Punjab Kings.
Jos Buttler will remain with the Rajasthan Royals, who were earlier this year in reported talks to buy Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
Sunrisers Hyderabad, after yesterday’s movements, have the most space within their salary cap ahead of the auction. Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians were the sides with the lowest amount of available spending money.
The 2024 IPL gets underway on 18 April.
