Dubai: Indian Premier League (IPL) side Royal Challengers Bangalore retained the services of Indian batsman Virat Kohli for the 2022 season while current champions Chennai Super Kings kept faith with Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the window closed on Tuesday.
Kohli was retained for a fee of rupees 150 million (Dh7.5 million) while his team also signed on Mohammed Siraj and Australia’s Glenn Maxwell ahead of Tuesday’s deadline, leaving them with rupees 570 million to spend in the auction.
Each team will have a total salary cap of rupees 900 million to spend at the auction, minus a retention deduction.
Among other big names remaining with their teams ahead of the next edition of the Twenty20 tournament were Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians), Rishabh Pant (Delhi Capitals), Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals) and Kane Williamson (Sunrisers Hyderabad).
Each of the eight franchises were allowed to retain up to four players with a maximum of three Indians, two overseas players and two uncapped Indian players.
Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai opted to retain four players each while Rajasthan, Bangalore and Hyderabad retained three.
A surprise omission is the absence of Faf du Plessis among the retained players in the Chennai Super Kings ranks. The former South African skipper finished a close second in the highest run-getters list in the 2021 edition, but England all-rounder Moeen Ali was preferred to du Plessis by the defending champions.
Punjab Kings held on to two players — Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh — leaving them with the highest salary purse of rupees 720 million to spend at the auction ahead of the 2022 season. Delhi have the least at rupees 475 million.
In another surprise move, Sunrisers Hyderabad have let go spin ace Rashid Khan and Australian opener David Warner and opted for young turks Abdul Samad and tearaway fast bowler Umran Malik.
The next edition will have two new teams — Lucknow and Ahmedabad — with the competition featuring 74 matches.
Rajasthan Royals have retained their influential skipper Sanju Samson, uncapped fearless young batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, along with England’s talismanic star Buttler. Having appointed Sanju Samson as their leader before the 2021 season, the Royals have chosen the mercurial batter as the first retained player, with rupees 140 million. The right-handed batter has amassed 3,068 runs in 121 IPL matches with a strike rate of 134.20 since making his debut with the Royals back in 2013, spending seven seasons with the franchise.
“Having started my IPL journey with the Royals, and now leading this franchise is a huge honour for me as we look to further strengthen our roots with an eye on the IPL trophy yet again with both — familiar and fresh faces — but strong hearts,” stated Sanju Samson.
Retained players
Chennai: Ravindra Jadeja, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Delhi: Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje.
Kolkata: Andre Russell, Varun Chakaravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine.
Mumbai: Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard.
Punjab: Mayank Agarwal, Arshdeep Singh.
Rajasthan: Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj.
Hyderabad: Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad, Umran Malik.
