Six of the eight existing Indian Premier League franchises retained the tried and tested players for the forthcoming season. However, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings did spring a surprise by retaining uncapped Indian players.
With K.L. Rahul moving on, Punjab retained Mayank Agarwal and the uncapped Arshdeep Singh. Hyderabad retained Jammu and Kashmir young guns Abdul Samad and Umran Malik, along with its captain Kane Williamson.
IPL 2022 retentions | As it happened
As reported by Sportstar earlier, Afghan spinner Rashid Khan is in conversation with the two new entrants, deciding to part ways with SRH, where he made his IPL debut in 2017.
Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals retained their core team, while five-time champion Mumbai Indians, too, made a last-minute change and opted for Suryakumar Yadav over Ishan Kishan. The other three players it retained are captain Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Kieron Pollard.
For Chennai, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the second pick at ₹12 crore, while Ravindra Jadeja was the first pick at ₹16 crore. The other two players were Moeen Ali (₹8 crore) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (₹6 crore).
“In the retention process, the franchise deals with the players and their respective agents. So, in case a player is not happy with the package offered by the franchise, he can break the deal and head to the auction pool,” a senior Board official said. “The franchises usually try to get their best players on board. But there are times when the player decides otherwise,” he explained.
Kolkata Knight Riders retained their old warhorses Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, along with spinner Varun Chakravarthy and young sensation Venkatesh Iyer.
Rajasthan Royals decided to look beyond the England aces - Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer - and settled for Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler and young uncapped Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Punjab Kings head coach Anil Kumble revealed that the team did try to retain Rahul but it was the India international’s decision to move on.
“We wanted to retain him and that’s one of the reasons we chose him as the captain two years ago, so that he could be the fulcrum of the team. But he decided to go into the auction, and we respect that. It’s a player’s prerogative,” Kumble told the official broadcaster Star Sports . Rahul is likely to lead the Lucknow franchise.
Even Sunrisers Hyderabad CEO, K. Shanmugam stated that the franchise would have wanted Rashid to stay, indicating that the franchise will try and get him back in the auction.
Delhi Capitals owner Parth Jindal, too, hoped to get most of the players back from the auction. “It is heartbreaking to lose Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada and (R.) Ashwin. The auction process is like this. Going forward, the IPL needs to look at it because it is not fair that you build up a team, give youngsters a chance, groom them and they get opportunities for the franchises and play for their country and then you lose them after three years. IPL needs to have a re-look,” Jindal said.
The retained players:
Chennai Super Kings: Ravindra Jadeja (₹16 crore), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (₹12 crore), Moeen Ali (₹8 crore), Ruturaj Gaikwad (₹6 crore).
Kolkata Knight Riders: Andre Russell (₹16 crore), Varun Chakravarthy (₹12 crore), Venkatesh Iyer (₹8 crore), Sunil Narine (₹6 crore).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson (₹14 crore), Abul Samad (₹4 crore), Umran Malik (₹4 crore).
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (₹16 crore), Jasprit Bumrah (₹12 crore), Suryakumar Yadav (₹8 crore), Kieron Pollard (₹6 crore).
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (₹15 crore, Glenn Maxwell (₹11 crore), Mohammed Siraj (₹7 crore).
Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant (₹16 crore), Axar Patel (₹12 crore), Prithvi Shaw (₹7.5 crore), Anrich Nortje (₹6.5 crore)
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (₹14 crore), Jos Buttler (₹10 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (₹ 4 crore).
Punjab Kings: Mayank Agarwal (₹14 crore), Arshdeep Singh (₹4 crore) .
Published - November 30, 2021 11:36 pm IST
