Flamboyant wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant's nine-season stint at Delhi Capitals became official only on Thursday with South Africa's Heinrich Klaasen just edging the peerless Virat Kohli - valued Rs 21 crores less at Rs 23 crore - to win the purse string for top retention this season.
Mumbai Indians retained all their five-star players, including skipper Hardik Panndya, national captains Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, pace ace Jasprit Bumrah and young NT Tilak Varma. They exhausted full retention purse of Rs 75 crore. After his discussions with the management failed, KKR's IPL-winning captain Shreyas Iyer is also back in the auction pool.
Punjab Kings have retained just two uncapped players Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh at the least amount of Rs 9.5 crore. They will enter the auction with the highest purse of Rs 110.5 crore and also four RTM (Right To Match) cards.
Pant and DC ========== DC's ownership is complex with co-owners GMR and JSW being granted management controlling powers for two-year cycles. So Pant, a JSW entrant, was never the first choice for GMR management helmed by co-owner Kiran Grandhi.
Moment GMR took charge, they axed erstwhile coaching management comprising former Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly and roped in Venugopal Rao.
If reports are to be believed, Pant wasn't very happy with the appointments of Rao and Hemang Badani, who might have been handed over some amount of authority to veto the skipper.
Tweets and discussions over the past month didn't seem to yield any result, and Pant did not wish to work with the new set of coaching staff thrust on him by the new management.
Retention- Axar Patel (16.50 crores), Kuldeep Yadav (13.25 crores), Tristan Stubbs (10 crore) and Abhisek Porel (4 crore) - 43.75 crores, Auction Purse:76.25 crores, RTM:2.
Star Studded MI ============ Mumbai Indians could hardly choose from anywhere other than one slot where fresh blood was in order. Jasprit Bumrah have paid the highest retention fee of Rs 18 crores, India T20 skipper Suryakumar Yadav (Rs 16.35 crore) and franchise skipper Hardik Pandya (Rs 16.35 crore) have received equal retention price.
Retentions: Jasprit Bumrah (Rs 18 crore), Suryakumar Yadav (Rs 16.35 crore), Hardik Pandya (Rs 16.35 crore), Rohit Sharma (Rs 16.30 crore), NT Tilak Varma (Rs 8 crore). Retention Price: Rs 75 crore.
Purse for auction: Rs 45 crore. RTM: 1
RCB and Virat Kohli ============ Virat Kohli and RCB are like two pieces of a puzzle and hence if there would have been one retention, it would be the iconic India batter.
Retention: Virat Kohli (21 cr), Rajat Patidar (Rs11 cr), and Yash Dayal (Rs 5 crore). Rs 37 crore. Auction Purse: Rs 83 crore. RTM: 3
Punjab Kings ========= Not making it to the play-offs for 10 consecutive years means that Punjab Kings never had a set look. They retained only two uncapped players-keeper-opener Prabhsimran Singh and finisher Shashank Singh. Retention: 9.5 crore. Auction Purse: Rs 110.5 crore RTM: 4
KK R retains its core =========== Shreyas Iyer must have felt he is worth much more than the Rs 12.25 crore he is valued for after leading KKR to the IPL title.
However, not being an automatic India T20 choice and a poor strike rate of less than 140 meant that KKR was never going to shell out big bucks for him. The franchise has released him and he is DC's No.1 captaincy target. The franchise is believed to have kept Rs 20 crore minimum for him.
Retentions: Rinku Singh (13 crore) Varun Chakravarthy (Rs 12 crore) Sunil Narine (12 crore), Andre Russell (Rs 12 crore), Harshit Rana (Rs 4 crore), Ramandeep (4 crore). Retention: Rs 57 crore. Purse: Rs 63 crore. RTM: 0.
SRH and Hein 'Rich' Klaasen ===================== Heinrich Klaasen at Rs 23 crore is a good value as he maybe one of the best strike-rotators for Indian bowlers on slow tracks which is a very rare asset for any overseas batsmen.
Retention: Pat Cummins-18 crore, Abhishek Sharma- Rs. 14 crore. Nitish Reddy - 6 crores Heinrich Klaasen 23 cr Travis Head - 14 cr. retention: 75 crore. Auction purse: 45 crore. RTM-1
CSK and prudence ============= CSK did not have too many surprises except giving the same retention amount to both skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and veteran Ravi Jadeja. MS Dhoni, for whom uncapped player rule was created, was retained for Rs 4 crore.
Retention: Ruturaj Gaikwad (Rs 18 cr), Matheesha Pathirana (Rs 13 cr), Shivam Dube (Rs 12 crore), Ravindra Jadeja (Rs 18 cr), MS Dhoni (Rs 4 crore). Retention: Rs 65 crore. Auction Purse: Rs 55 crore. RTM 1.
Rajasthan Royals ============ RR had space for all the talent that it developed over the years but had no space for Jos Buttler, R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Retention: Sanju Samson (Rs 18 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rs 18 crore), Riyan Parag (Rs 14 crore), Dhruv Jurel (Rs 14 crore), Shimron Hetmyer (Rs 11 crore), Sandeep Sharma (Rs 4 crore) Retention: Rs 79 crore (will be adjusted) Purse: Rs 41 crore RTM: 0
LSG release Rahul ================= Keeping Nicholas Pooran at a premium price of Rs 21 crore seem to be a good choice.
Retention: Nicholas Pooran (Rs 21 crore) Ravi Bishnoi (Rs 11 crore), Mayank Yadav (Rs 11 crore), Mohsin Khan (Rs 4 crore), AYush Badoni (Rs 4 cr). Retention: Rs 51 crore Auction Purse: Rs 69 crore
For GT, Rashid is a safe place ===================== The premier bowler for T20 league Rashid Khan was given top billing at Rs 18 crore while India's white-ball vice captain Shubman Gill was second highest retention for the franchise.
Retention: Rashid Khan (Rs 18 crore), Shubman Gill (Rs 16.5 crore), B Sai Sudharsan (Rs 8.5 cr), Rahul Tewatia (Rs 4 cr), M Shahrukh Khan (Rs 4 cr), Retention: 51 crore Auction Purse: Rs 69 crore. RTM: 1.
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