Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey has revealed he wasn't surprised after being released by Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Capitals on Wednesday. Carey thanked Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting for having him in the squad. "It wasn't a surprise. Those things, you get a bit of an inkling for and I didn't play a lot of cricket, just sat on the sidelines so it probably makes sense to open that spot up for someone else," cricket.com.au quoted Carey as saying. "Hopefully there's an opportunity in this year's draft, but I'm really grateful for Delhi and Punter (Ponting) for picking me up in the first place," he added.
Delhi Capitals retained 19 players which included six overseas players, while six players including Carey, Jason Roy and Sandeep Lamichhane were released from the squad for IPL 2021.
Carey on Thursday slammed an elegant century in the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL). The Adelaide Strikers opener's 62-ball 101 was also his second ton in the tournament's history.
Carey didn't get too many chances in the IPL as he featured in only three games in the most lucrative T20 competition in 2020 for Delhi Capitals.
The players who have been retained by the franchise from last season include Indian internationals Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin, along with Lalit Yadav, Pravin Dubey and Avesh Khan.