Williamson set to missout on lucrative IPL deal
Black Caps captain Kane Williamson has been released by his IPL team, Sunrisers Hyderabad, ahead of the 2023 ‘mini auction’.
Williamson spent eight years at the franchise, and was their skipper and most expensive player during this year’s campaign, but has paid the price for his recent struggles in the T20 game.
The 32-year-old had been one of three players retained by the franchise ahead of this year’s auction, with the Sunrisers spending INR 14 crore (NZ$2.8m) – the highest retention price for an overseas player. Williamson has played 76 matches for the Sunrisers, and captained them 46 times, scoring 2101 runs at an average of 36.22 and a strike rate of 126.03. However, 2022 was a struggle for him.
Nursing his troublesome elbow injury, he managed only 216 runs in the IPL this year, at 19.63 and a strike rate of 93.50 – the lowest strike rate for any batter in the tournament who faced at least 100 balls, as his side finished eighth of 10 teams for a second year running.
Williamson then also had his struggles with the Black Caps in the shortest format, and while he scored 178 runs at 35.60 during
New Zealand’s World Cup campaign in Australia, which ended in the semifinals against Pakistan last week, his strike rate (which finished at 116) was a continual point of frustration.
Ahead of the IPL auction on December 23 in Kochi, teams had November 15 as a deadline to submit their retained and released players list. Letting go of Williamson will free up a large chunk of money for the Sunrisers.
According to ESPNCricinfo, the franchise is keeping options open about the possibility of buying him back at the auction.
Williamson wasn’t the only casualty at Sunrisers, who cut ties with 12 players – the thirdmost of any of the sides.
Meanwhile, four other Kiwis are now without teams, with the Rajasthan Royals letting go of both Daryl Mitchell and Jimmy Neesham, the Delhi Capitals parting ways with Tim Seifert, and the Chennai Super Kings releasing Adam Milne.
Lockie Ferguson has been traded from the Gujurat Titans to the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Devon Conway and Mitchell Santner have been retained by the Chennai Super Kings, while Finn Allen (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Glenn Phillips (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Tim Southee (Kolkata Knight Riders) and Trent Boult (Rajasthan Royals) have also been kept by their respective teams.