The Indian Premier League (IPL) has seen a lot of successful players. Several cricketers have gone on to become synonymous with a particular IPL franchise they have played for. This has led to franchises retaining such kind of players and not releasing them from their respective teams.

However, there have been several instances where teams don’t retain players who have been in good form. This move has backfired for them more often than not. They were released by one franchise due to poor performance only to end up performing well for another team in the following season.

A lot of players come under this category. Unfortunately, every team has made this mistake and thus, would regret releasing a particular player from their team. Today we shall be taking a look at one player each team will regret for releasing in IPL history.

1. Chennai Super Kings – Andrew Tye

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are one of the smartest teams in IPL history. Seldom do you see their decisions not working well for them. However, even they had once released a player that they would now regret releasing.

Andrew Tye was with CSK in 2015. After they completed their two year suspension, they had a chance of using their RTM card to get back two overseas players who represented the franchise in 2015. The yellow army, thus had the chance of using their RTM card to get Andrew Tye back.

However, they didn’t do so as they went on to use their RTM card for Dwayne Bravo and Faf Du Plessis. Not having Andrew Tye turned out to be a mistake as he was in superb form back then. He then went on to represent the Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) and even won the Purple Cap that year.

2. Mumbai Indians – Dwayne Bravo

Like CSK, even the Mumbai Indians (MI) have an awesome management. They always think twice before taking a decision. However, even the most successful IPL team have made the mistake of releasing a player who went on to do wonders for another franchise.

Dwayne Bravo is considered as one of the greatest all-rounders in the history of T20 cricket. He was the first player to score 1000 runs with the bat and pick 100 wickets with the ball in the IPL. His name is now synonymous with CSK.

However, he was initially with MI. He represented the five-time champions from 2008 to 2010. MI chose not to retain him in the IPL 2011 auction and as they say, rest is history. Bravo then went on to become one of the greatest all-rounders in IPL history and MI must he regretting the fact that they let go of such a gem.

3. Royal Challengers Bangalore – KL Rahul

Unlike CSK and MI, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have been criticized for releasing world class players. There have been numerous occasions where RCB release a player and he goes on to succeed in another team. However, their decision to let go of KL Rahul has to be one of the worst decisions the RCB management has ever taken.

KL Rahul is arguably one of the greatest T20 players of our era. He has been an absolute run machine in the IPL. However, his good run in the IPL started when he played for RCB in 2016 as he went on to score five 50+ scores in that season.

RCB, however, chose not to retain him in the IPL 2018 auction and they showed faith in Sarfaraz Khan. KL Rahul was then purchased by Punjab and he went on to become their best player. He scored a total of 659 runs in 14 matches at an average of 54.91 for the then Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). RCB would definitely regret their decision to pick Sarfaraz Khan over KL Rahul.

4. Sunrisers Hyderabad – Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan was synonymous with the Sunrises Hyderabad (SRH). He represented the franchise for as many as six seasons. Thus, seeing his name on this list is shocking to say the least.

Dhawan was one of the best batsmen for SRH. He formed a superb opening pair with their skipper David Warner. Both of them went on to become one of the best opening pairs in IPL history. However, it was reported that Dhawan was unhappy with his IPL salary and had some issues with the franchise.

Instead of addressing his issues, SRH traded the southpaw to Delhi Capitals (DC) and got Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma and Shahbaz Nadeem in return. This turned out to be a bad decision as Dhawan has shone amazingly for DC as opener. They would definitely regret their decision to let go of Dhawan.

5. Kolkata Knight Riders – Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle is arguably the greatest T20 batsman of all time. While other players are synonymous with one franchise, the “Universe Boss” is synonymous with two franchises, i.e. the Bangalore as well as Punjab franchise. However, he was initially playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

This might shock a few fans but Gayle represented KKR in the first three IPL seasons. However, he was able to score only two half-centuries and thus, the franchise decided not to retain him.

He then joined RCB in 2011 as a replacement and never looked back since then. He won the Orange Cap in 2011 as well as 2012 and is now one of the greatest IPL players of all time. KKR’s decision to let go of Gayle has to be one of the worst decisions in the history of the league.

6. Delhi Capitals (Delhi Daredevils) – AB de Villiers

Delhi Capitals (DC) were initially known as the Delhi Daredevils (DD). When they were known as the Daredevils, they made a lot of decisions that they would go on to regret. One of those was to let go of AB de Villiers.

De Villiers is arguably one of the greatest batsmen in the history of the league. He made his debut for DD in 2008. Despite playing for them for three seasons, he only had one good season for them.

DD then decided to release him in the 2011 IPL auction. RCB managed to get him and this is where he transformed his IPL career. De Villiers is now with the Virat Kohli-led side and has been their Mr. Consistent for quite a while now.

7. Rajasthan Royals – Shane Watson

It is safe to say that Shane Watson is one of the greatest all-rounders in IPL history. You wouldn’t find too many players who have been better than the Aussie in the IPL. Watson’s IPL career started with the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the inaugural edition of the league.

He was an instant success as he went on to win the player of the tournament award and was instrumental in RR’s title winning campaign in 2008. He then became the face of their franchise and even went on to lead them. After completing their two year suspension, RR had the opportunity to retain Watson in the IPL 2018 auction.

However, they chose not to do so and this turned out to be their biggest mistake. CSK managed to get him and he was one of the major reasons why they won the title in 2018. He was sensational for the Men in Yellow to say the least and won many matches for them all by himself.

8. Punjab Kings (Kings XI Punjab)- Sam Curran

Like RCB, even the Punjab Kings (Then Kings XI Punjab) have made a lot of blunders. Out of all their decisions which turned out to be wrong, the one which they would regret the most would be releasing Sam Curran. He is a is a complete package to say the least.

Curran was purchased by the Punjab franchise in the IPL 2019 auction for a whopping 7.2 crore. While he didn’t really set the stage on fire that season, he wasn’t too bad either. He even managed to pick a hat-trick in that season for Punjab.

But the left-arm pacer was then released in the IPL 2020 auction and the 22-year-old was picked up by CSK. Curran then had a sensational season with CSK where he impressed one and all. His ability to pick wickets at regular intervals with the ball as well as hit the big shots with the bat is what makes him so good in the shortest format of the game.