The 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) cycle is now formally underway with the eight franchises submitting their retention list ahead of the big IPL auction this winter.
MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, and Kane Williamson have all been retained by their franchises while KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner, Shreyas Iyer, the Pandya brothers, and Suresh Raina are among some of the big names that have been released.
Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings have both released their captains with KL Rahul reportedly in talks with the Lucknow franchise to lead the team. RCB too will be looking for a captain in the auction with Virat Kohli stepping down from the position after the 2021 season. It remains to be seen whether the team will give the role to Maxwell, who they have retained along with Siraj.
With the two new teams joining from the 2022 season, the auction this winter will see one of the biggest-ever player pools with the eight old franchises allowed to retain only a maximum of four players. The rest of their line-ups will return to the pool, from which the two new franchises from Lucknow and Ahmedabad can pick three players each before their 25 December deadline.
There will be no ‘Right to Match’ option at the auction.
The total auction purse allowed for all 10 franchises is Rs 90 crore each with the number of players retained (or bought) determining how much money they have left to spend in the auction.
Retention Guidelines
Four players retained deducts Rs 42 crore from the auction purse
Three players retained deducts Rs 33 crore from the auction purse
Two players retained deducts Rs 24 crore from the auction purse
One players retained deducts Rs 14 crore from the auction purse
Four Teams Retain Four Players Each
Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals are the four franchises that have used up all their available spots and retained four players each.
The defending champions will continue on with MS Dhoni as their skipper with the veteran revealing at a CSK event in Chennai this month that he will be playing another season at least and bow out at their home, the Chinnaswamy stadium. Apart from Dhoni, Chennai have retained Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Moeen Ali.
Unsurprisingly, Mumbai Indians have kept back skipper Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah but made deadline-day decisions in also retaining Kieron Pollard and Suryakumar Yadav. The IPL 2021 finalists' team-sheet comprised of many big-ticket players who will likely find some big bidders at the auction. Trent Boult, Hardik, Krunal Pandya, Quinton de Kock, Ishan Kishan now all return to the auction pool with the Pandyas believed to be in talks with the Ahmedabad franchise.
Delhi Capitals have released their former skipper Shreyas Iyer into the auction pool. With Rishabh Pant being their choice of captain going forward, Iyer is believed to have elected to exit the franchise and play for a new team next season. Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje, and Axar Patel are the three other players Delhi have retained.
Kolkata Knight Riders have released their skipper Eoin Morgan following his below par outing in IPL 2021. They have instead chosen to retain two overseas players in Sunil Narine and Andre Russell along with Varun Chakravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer.
Three Teams Retain Three Each
Among the remaining four teams, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals have retained three players each with the RR and the SRH keeping back uncapped players as well.
Virat Kohli will continue at the RCB but with AB de Villiers announcing his retirement from all forms of cricket, the only overseas player the franchise has retained is Aussie Glenn Maxwell. Mohammed Siraj is the third player on the team’s roster before the auction.
Uncapped players like SRH’s Abdul Samad and Umran Malik and Rajasthan Royals’ Yashasvi Jaiwal will receive Rs 4 crore a season.
Hyderabad have retained only their captain Kane Williamson apart from the two young Indian cricketers while Rajasthan will continue to be led by Sanju Samson with English star Jos Buttler also staying back. While Warner's future with the SRH was known following their strained relations in IPL 2021, the release of SRH’s Rashid Khan and Jonny Bairstow and RR’s Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes will promises some big bids in the upcoming auction.
Punjab Release KL, Retain Mayank
Punjab Kings have been an interesting story in the off season with even their skipper KL Rahul believed to have asked to be released by the franchise. Rahul is likely to be bought by Lucknow as one of their three picks before the auction. Mayank Agarwal has been retained by the team alongside young spinner Arshdeep Singh.
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