The franchises have been working hard for the last month or so since the retention rules ahead of the mega auction for the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) were announced. The teams are allowed to retain just four players before the auction, while the two new sides will get to pick three players each from the pool of unretained players.
As the date for the announcement of retained players comes close, a report by Indian Express suggested that most of the franchises have finalised their core group of players, who will feature for them in the next season as well.
There are some obvious names like MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje for Delhi Capitals (DC), Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah for Mumbai Indians (MI), but there were some surprise exclusions too.
Several reports have suggested that KL Rahul is likely to leave Punjab Kings, while some of the star Indian players will either be picked by the two new teams in the draft or will go straight into the auction. Here are some of the star players, who may not be retained by their franchises:
KL Rahul: The Punjab Kings skipper for the last two seasons is most likely to get a new home as the parties didn’t reach a deal, which satisfied both of them. Rahul, looked liked one of the sure retenetions for Kings as he has been the only consistent performer for the last four years, scoring over 2500 runs in 55 matches.
Hardik Pandya: The Mumbai Indians star all-rounder too is most likely to find his name in the auction. Mumbai Indians are set to part ways with him given the loss of form and his fitness, which affected their balance in the 2021 season.
Shikhar Dhawan: The Delhi Capitals openers has been in prolific form with the bat in the last three seasons after making a move from the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2019. Dhawan has been one of the main reasons for Capitals’ fabulous show in the last three seasons but his age might be the main reason for them to look beyond him as they build a side for the next three years.
Ravichandran Ashwin: The wily off-spinner, who made a comeback into the Indian team in white-ball format after four years on the back of his performances in the IPL for Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Capitals in the last four seasons, too will most likely find his name in the auction pool as he informed the same on his YouTube channel.
Suresh Raina: The southpaw returned to the IPL after missing the 2020 season. He came back with a bang scoring a half-century but his form tapered off before the season was suspended. In the second half, he looked in woeful touch before being dropped by CSK, who don’t leave out players that easily. CSK may now look in a different direction and Raina might find a new home in the auction.
Suryakumar Yadav: The Mumbai Indians batter had a sensational time in the IPL in the last four years batting at No 3 as he was one of the main reasons for the side winning two trophies in the last four years. However, now being a capped player, and Mumbai Indians already having Rohit Sharma and Jsapirt Bumrah to pick, Yadav may find a new home for the next three years.
