Delhi Capitals (DC) are set to add Rs 2.60 crore to their purse ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 mini-auction by releasing Manish Pandey and Sarfaraz Khan. Both Pandey and Sarfaraz were below par in the previous edition of IPL as the Delhi-based franchise finished ninth on the points table with nine losses from 14 games.
In the absence of an injured Rishabh Pant, the David Warner-led side struggled in all departments of the game. Pandey was roped in for bolstering their top order but he managed to score 160 runs from 10 games at an average of 17.78. He scored just one half-century and his strike rate was 109.59.
The last time, the IPL veteran scored more than 400 runs was in the 2020 edition. He scored 425 runs from 16 matches at an average of 32.69 including three half-centuries.
On the other hand, Sarfaraz could not make the most of the few chances he got. He scored just 53 runs from four games at an average of 13.25. His highest score was 30 but the most disappointing aspect was his strike rate of 85.48 which in modern-day cricket is considered ordinary for even the ODI format.
While Sarfaraz continues to pile runs in domestic cricket, he is yet to get a consistent run in IPL. His best season was in 2019 when he scored 180 runs from eight games.
DC had roped in Pandey for Rs 2.40 lakh after a mini-bidding war with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Sarfaraz’s services were acquired for his base price of Rs 20 lakh.
If Pant returns to the side, it will bolster their middle order. Capitals' team director Sourav Ganguly earlier this month said that Pant is likely to regain fitness before next season.
"He's (Pant) good now. He will play in the IPL next season," Ganguly said. "Rishabh won't be practising here (Kolkata) though. There's still time for him to get down to practice. By January (2024), he'll get even better.”
“We were talking about the team. He is the captain, so he put in his views regarding the upcoming auction. That's the reason he has come here, to finalise certain aspects related to the team,” he added.
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