England ace batter Joe Root has joined his fellow countryman Ben Stokes in pulling out of the upcoming auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as Rajasthan Royals confirmed the same on November 25th (Saturday). Stokes' news of pulling out of the auction came on Thursday as the all-rounder cited workload management as the reason to skip it.
The 2023 IPL edition turned out to be Root's first in the extravaganza as the Royals secured his services for a base price of INR 1 crore. However, he could not make the desired impact in his limited appearances, managing only 10 runs in the only innings he batted and sent down a two wicketless overs.
Royals' Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara respected Root's decision and issued a statement saying, as quoted by Cricbuzz:
"Even in a short span of time, Joe was able to create such a positive impact on the franchise and the players around him. His energy around the group and the experience he brought to the Royals will be missed. We respect his decision totally and wish him success in everything he does."
Rajasthan Royals trade Devdutt Padikkal for Avesh Khan:
Meanwhile, the inaugural IPL champions are one of the few sides to make a trade ahead of the deadline for the retention and release list. They traded left-handed batter Devdutt Padikkal for fast bowler Avesh Khan, who came from the Lucknow Super Giants.
Padikkal had a mediocre season in 2023, managing 261 in 10 games at 26.10. However, Avesh couldn't enjoy an all-timer either, managing 9 scalps in 8 matches. After finishing as the runners-up in 2022, the Royals failed to make the playoffs the following season.
