Player Retention Announcement
Marking the start of the 11th season of the Indian Premier League, all eight franchises will shortly announce the names of their retained players in Mumbai on Thursday, 4 January.
BCCI Acting Secretary Amitabh Chaudhary and Rajeev Shukla, Chairman of the IPL’s Governing Council will attend the event, alongwith IPL franchise representatives.
Each franchise participating in the 2018 edition can secure up to five players, by virtue of a combination of Player Retention (Pre Player Auction) and Right to Match (RTM), it was announced.
RTM refers to a franchise’s right to match the highest bidder for a player during the player auction.
Dhoni Reunites With Raina and Jadeja
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was back at his 'spiritual home' Chennai Super Kings while Royal Challengers Bengaluru retained India captain Virat Kohli during the much- publicised yet predictable Indian Premier League retentions in Mumbai on Thursday.
Mumbai Indians had the league's most successful captain Rohit Sharma back in their stable as most of the retentions happened on expected lines.
Current Australia skipper Steve Smith was Rajasthan Royals' only pick while his deputy David Warner remains with Sunrisers Hyderabad along with pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Kings XI Punjab had left-arm spinner Axar Patel in their ranks while South African Chris Morris, young guns Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer are back with Delhi Daredevils.
The franchises that has gone for full three retentions are CSK, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils and RCB.
CSK have retained their powerhouse performers Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina as their second and third choice respectively.
AB de Villiers is RCB's second retention while they have kept uncapped Sarfaraz Khan for Rs 3 crore while putting Chris Gayle back in the auction pool.
For Mumbai Indians, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah are second and third retentions.
The purse that one spends for retention of three capped players is Rs 15 crore for Player 1, Rs 11 crore for Player 2 and Rs 7 crore for Player 3 while for two retentions -- it's Rs 12.5 crore for Player 1 and Rs 8.5 crore for player 2.
However for Virat Kohli, the retention was Rs 17 crore, which incidentally is his league fee. A single player retention had a deduction of Rs 12.5 crore.
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Gambhir Dropped by KKR
Kolkata Knight Riders chose to retain only two players and the names did not include Gautam Gambhir. The title-winning skipper now moves back into the player pool for the auction, later this month.
Delhi Retain Pant, Morris & Iyer
Delhi Daredevils picked Chris Morris, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer as the three players they carry forward into the new season.
Australia’s World Cup-winning captain Ricky Ponting was appointed coach of the team for the coming season.
Ponting takes over the reins at DD from former India captain Rahul Dravid, who had stepped down after the previous season owing to BCCI's conflict-of-interest regulations.
Dravid chose to coach India A and India Under-19 teams over the IPL franchise.
"Ricky Ponting has been appointed as head coach. We will have a new coach and a new team with the idea of having continuity. We have retained two youngsters and the whole team will be built around them. Chris Morris is a top all rounder," Daredevils CEO Hemant Dua said.
The 43-year-old has earlier coached Mumbai Indians for two seasons in 2015 (when they won the title) and 2016.
- Two-time title-winning captain Gautam Gambhir has been dropped by Kolkata Knight Riders
- Virat Kohli has come out of the event in Mumbai as the highest-earning player with RCB paying him Rs 17 crore.
- MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja will once again reunite in yellow, with CSK electing to retain all three players in their comeback season.
- Australian skipper Steve Smith who played for Rising Pune Super Giants in IPL 2017 has been retained by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 15 crore.