Kane Williamson was one of the 12 players released by Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday as part of the IPL 2023 retention day before the mini-auction that will take place in Kochi on December 23.
Williamson was first chosen by Hyderabad as their captain before the IPL 2022 season and was kept on for a staggering INR 14 crores.
However, despite having a five-match winning streak in the first half of the IPL 2022 season, Hyderabad only won six out of the 14 matches in the competition between the ten teams.
Williamson was far from his best with the bat as he returned to cricket action after a protracted elbow injury, scoring just 216 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 93.50 and averaging 19.64.
Tom Moody, a former Australian all-rounder who led Hyderabad in the 2022 IPL, thinks it will be intriguing to see what the team does next after letting Williamson leave.
Yes, it will be extremely intriguing to see what the new Sunrisers administration decides with regard to Kane, as keeping a player like Williamson is a significant choice in and of itself.
"You support him as your leader at the start of a significant auction; everyone knows he's one of the best modern leaders in the game. Yes, he had a bad season, and yes, he had injury issues over the previous 12 months, said Moody on Star Sports' "IPL - Special Retention Show."
Williamson's release frees up a large portion of Hyderabad's budget before the mini-auction for the IPL 2023, and according to Moody, money may have also been a factor." But it's obvious that when they initially sat down before the big auction, they decided to change such a crucial aspect of what their future would include.
"I completely understand the decision based on the 14 crore; that's a significant sum of money, especially for a foreign player. for a player from India? Definitely not.
"And we must always consider the supply and demand for high-caliber Indian players in comparison to the supply and demand for players from other countries. You will always have to spend a lot of money for your top Indian players, and that is well justified."
Williamson participated in eight IPL seasons for Hyderabad, scoring 2021 runs with an average of 36.22 and a strike rate of 126.03 overall. Hyderabad's finest performance under his direction was a runners-up position in the IPL 2018 after falling to Chennai Super Kings in the championship match. Williamson led the competition in scoring that year with 735 runs at an average of 52.50 and a strike rate of 142.44.