Three Players Chennai might release ahead of next season of Indian T20 League

The MS Dhoni-led four-time champions, Chennai didn't really have a great time in the 15^th edition of the Indian T20 League. They could manage to win only four out of the 14 matches they played in the season. The team also had to go through a change in the captaincy during the season.

Chennai saw some poor outings from their players in the recently-concluded season. Due to these performances, the team ended up getting knocked out from the league round itself. After a forgettable season, the Chennai management might consider a few changes next year. The franchise is probably supposed to release some players ahead of the next season.

So, here we’ll have a look at the 3 players who might get released before the mini-auction for the 2023 season.

Here’s a look at the players that Chennai might release ahead of the 2023 edition:

1. Chris Jordan

The 33-year-old senior English pacer was picked by Chennai in the mega auction for the 2022 season. The franchise bought the T20 specialist for an amount of INR 3.60 crores. Jordan has disappointed his team with poor outings in the season. Bowling in four matches he played for Chennai, Jordan could scalp only two wickets.

The Barbados-born speedster conceded runs at an expensive economy rate of 10.52 runs per over. His poor performance in a match against Gujarat cost a match to Chennai. After that match, he had to sit in the dugout for all the remaining matches of the season. The franchise might definitely think to release him ahead of the next season to pick some skilled and in-form bowlers in the squad.

2. Tushar Deshpande

The Mumbai-based pacer was bought by the Chennai franchise for his base price of INR 20 lakhs. He was supposed to be part of the team as a backup for Deepak Chahar who sustained an injury at the beginning of the 2022 season. Deshpande was believed to deliver some stellar performances as a replacement for Deepak Chahar.

He got a chance to appear only in two matches for the team. In these matches, he could only scalp only one wicket having an economy rate of 9 runs per over to his name. The team management then made him sit out for the rest of the tournament. As Deshpande was benched, Chennai included pacers, Simarjeet Singh and Mukesh Chaudhary. Both of these pacers impressed the senior skipper Dhoni with their magnificent skills of match-defining instinct. So, Chennai might decide to release Tushar Deshpande ahead of the next season.

3. Robin Uthappa

The Chennai franchise shocked everyone last year when they picked up Robin Uthappa for the 2021 season. He could not be part of playing XI of Chennai for almost 13 matches of the last season. He was given chance as a replacement for the senior southpaw Suresh Raina.

In the 2022 edition, Uthappa scored only 230 runs in the 12 matches he played for the team. He could score runs with a nominal average of 20.9, having only two half-centuries to his name. Considering his current form, Chennai management might think of including a young batter in the squad for the upcoming season.Thus, this might be the end of Uthappa’s journey with Chennai ahead of the 2023 season.