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27 cricketers were retained by the existing Indian Premier League sides on November 30 ahead of the mega auction for the next year’s ten-team tournament, spending INR 269 crores in keeping some of their players intact. The list of retained players included 19 Indian players and eight overseas cricketers. As many as four players in the Indian category were uncapped players.
As was expected, the retention list features big Indian names such as MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, as well as Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant.
In the overseas category, franchises have kept the likes of Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Sunil Narine, Glenn Maxwell, Moeen Ali with them. Abdul Samad and Arshdeep Singh are part of the uncapped retentions.
Each franchise faced a deduction of significant money from their total salary purse of INR 90 crores because of the retentions they have made. For teams retaining four players, they had to concede INR 42 crores. Those retaining three had to spend 33 crores; keeping only two players with them meant letting go 24 crores from the purse, and retaining one player cost a team INR 14 crores.
Chennai Super Kings
Retentions: Ravindra Jadeja (16 crores), MS Dhoni (12 crores), Moeen Ali (8 crores), Ruturaj Gaikwad (6 crores)
CSK kept their core intact in retaining two of their prominent allrounders in Jadeja and Moeen. Jadeja was retained as the top player for INR 16 crores, while Moeen was the third retention at INR 8 crores. Both the cricketers bring an ideal balance to the CSK line-up with their left-handedness with the bat and utility they give with the ball.
Gaikwad earned his retention as the fourth player for INR 6 crores after a prolific IPL 2021 where he topped the run-charts for CSK and pushed them to their fourth title.
But the biggest news to come out of CSK’s retention list was that Dhoni will continue his association with the franchise. The 40-year-old’s future with the side has been speculated for a while but now it is confirmed that he will be playing at least one more season of IPL.
ESPNcricinfo reported that Dhoni wanted the lowest retention prize but CSK think-tank kept him at second with INR 12 crores so as to have that big a gap available in their following year’s purse in case he retires after IPL 2022.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Retentions: Virat Kohli (15 crores), Glenn Maxwell (11 crores), Mohammed Siraj (7 crores)
Once AB de Villiers opted to retire from all forms of the game recently, RCB’s probable retentions became a touch more straightforward. They’ve kept their former skipper Virat Kohli with them for INR 15 crores, their star with the bat in IPL 2021 Glenn Maxwell for INR 11 crores and talented pacer Mohammed Siraj for INR 7 crores.
Surprised omissions here are veteran legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal and Purple Cap holder Harshal Patel. But the franchise is expected to bid for those players at the auction.
Mumbai Indians
Retentions: Rohit Sharma (16 crores), Jasprit Bumrah (12 crores), Suryakumar Yadav (8 crores), Kieron Pollard (6 crores)
Like CSK, their closest rivals MI have also let go of INR 42 crores and retained the maximum number of players allowed to be retained. They have kept their skipper Rohit, ace quick Bumrah, middle-order bat Suryakumar and experience allrounder Pollard.
These four have pipped the likes of Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Quinton de Kock, Trent Boult in the race for retention.
Delhi Capitals
Retentions: Rishabh Pant (16 crores), Axar Patel (9 crores), Prithvi Shaw (7.5 crores) and Anrich Nortje (6.5 crores)
Many feel DC have done the best job with their retentions, keeping skipper and explosive middle-order bat Pant, miserly left-arm spinner Axar, dashing opener Shaw and ace speedster Nortje with them. Thus, covering multiple bases to rebuild their side.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Retentions: Andre Russell (12 crores), Venkatesh Iyer (8 crores), Varun Chakravarthy (8 crores), Sunil Narine (6 crores)
KKR have also kept four players with them. Like DC, they have also tried to cover up multiple areas of their game and this led to the retention of all-rounders Russell, Narine and Iyer and a mystery spinner in Chakravarthy.
Once these four retentions were set, they had to leave out their captain Eoin Morgan, lead quick Pat Cummins, Indian opener Shubman Gill among others. Gill was being seen as KKR’s potential new captain but will now be entering the mega auction.
Punjab Kings
Retentions: Mayank Agarwal (12 crores), Arshdeep Singh (4 crores)
With KL Rahul opting to part ways with them, PBKS had to identify a potential captaincy replacement, which made the retention of experienced opening batter Mayank Agarwal a no-brainer. Agarwal has been one of PBKS’ few consistent performers with the bat.
The other retention was that of uncapped pacer Arshdeep, who has shown his potential in parts, bowling the difficult overs for PBKS in the last two seasons. The surprise omission was of Ravi Bishnoi, the unorthodox wristspinner, whose presence allowed PBKS to counter match-ups against opposition left-handers.
Rajasthan Royals
Retentions: Sanju Samson (14 crores), Jos Buttler (10 crores), Yashasvi Jaiswal (4 crores)
After another season of doom and gloom, it would’ve been slightly easier for RR think-tank to identify their horses for the long haul. And they arrived at skipper Samson, star opener Buttler and his young top-order partner Jaiswal as their retentions.
While Samson was RR’s most consistent player of the season, Jaiswal showcased an expanded range to his power-hitting game. Buttler’s retention, after dominating the Indian leg, was always on the cards. RR didn’t retain either Ben Stokes or Jofra Archer after they couldn’t take part in IPL 2021.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Retentions: Kane Williamson (14 crores), Umran Malik (4 crores), Abdul Samad (4 crores)
SRH took their first steps towards a revamp in retaining only one of their stars, Williamson, and showing trust in young guns Malik and Samad for the other retention slots.
This means the likes of Jonny Bairstow, David Warner, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Manish Pandey are now set to go through the mega auction unless signed before that by new franchises based in Lucknow and Ahmedabad.
