Five Black Caps lose IPL contracts

Five Black Caps have been released by their Indian Premier League sides as franchises trim their squads ahead of next month’s auction for the 2024 season.

Tim Southee (Kolkata Knight Riders), Lockie Ferguson (Kolkata Knight Riders), Kyle Jamieson (Chennai Super Kings), Finn Allen (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and Michael Bracewell (Royal Challengers Bangalore) have all been released and will be hoping to be picked up by new franchises at the 10-team auction on December 19.

Kolkata overhauled their pace department with Shardul Thakur joining Southee and Ferguson on the outer as the franchise released 12 players. Southee played just two matches last season, taking two wickets at 39.50 while Ferguson took one wicket in three games.

Jamieson didn’t play last season, ruled out due to injury, while Allen didn’t feature for Bangalore.

Kane Williamson (Gujarat Titans), Devon Conway (Chennai Super Kings), Mitchell Santner (Chennai Super Kings), Trent Boult (Rajasthan Royals) and Glenn Phillips (Sunrisers Hyderabad) all retained their contracts. Williamson played just one IPL match for the Titans last season but suffered a serious knee injury in the field which saw him miss the rest of the season and sidelined him until the start of the Cricket World Cup.

Standout Black Caps Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell are expected to earn contracts when the auction takes place next month.

ODI World-Cup winner Josh Hazlewood (Royal Challengers Bangalore) along with England trio Jofra Archer (Mumbai Indians), Joe Root (Rajasthan Royals) and Ben Stokes (Chennai Super Kings), and West Indies Jason Holder (Rajasthan Royals) were among international stars released by franchises.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission