Gautam Gambhir made his comeback to Delhi Daredevils for IPL 11. | Photo Credit: PTI

Gautam Gambhir, the two-time IPL winning captain, could be released by his franchise Delhi Daredevils ahead of the IPL auction which is slated to take place next month. As per a report in The Mumbai Mirror, Gambhir is in the possible drop list of the franchise. The left-handed batsman had made his homecoming to the Delhi-based franchise after being bought by them for an amount of Rs 2.80 Crore in the auction.

Under him, Delhi Daredevils failed to deliver at the initial stages and after losing first five of their six games, Gambhir decided to step down as the captain, handing over the reins to Shreyas Iyer. He wasn’t given a chance in the playing XI after he stepped down as the captain.

While Ricky Ponting, head coach of the franchise, stated that Gambhir had himself decided to sit out, the former DD captain had a different version and revealed that he never dropped himself from the playing XI.

“I never dropped myself from the playing XI. If that was the case, then I would’ve announced the retirement as well. A lot of cricket is still left in me,” he had told ABP news.

(Glenn Maxwell played for Delhi Daredevils in IPL 11. Photo credits: BCCI)

The comments of Gambhir were a clear indication that he was dropped from the side and going into the IPL auction, he looks all set to be released as well.

The report in The Mumbai Mirror also adds that Glenn Maxwell, Chris Morris and Jason Roy are other players who could be released. The former two were bought for an amount of Rs 9 Crore and 11 Crore respectively but they failed to deliver. Morris pulled out of the tournament mid-way and was replaced by Junior Dala.

(Also Read: KKR release Australian pacer Mitchell Starc)

It has already been confirmed that Chennai Super Kings have released Mark Wood, Kshitiz Sharma and Kanishk Seth whereas Kolkata Knight Riders have decided to send Mitchell Starc back in the auction pool.