Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
The buzz around the next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is already in the air with the deadline for franchises to submit the list of retentions coming to an end next week. All the 8 old franchises were notably asked to confirm the names of players (maximum 4) they wish to retain ahead of the mega auctions.
This process will be followed by two new franchises getting 3 special picks, which they can pick from the pool of available players in the month of December. The situation has led to franchise owners pulling up their socks as they have been constantly involved in negotiations with players to secure their services for the next season.
What makes the whole scenario extremely interesting is the fact that there has been a lot of uncertainty regarding the future of so many big names. Who will be retained? Who will be released? These are the only questions that cricket fans in India have been asking for last few days and it seems like few of the answers have now been revealed.
KL Rahul to part ways with Punjab Kings
As per a report by Indian Express, a few major revelations have been made regarding the retentions by the various franchises. One of the major talking points from the report claims that KL Rahul, who is likely to be released by Punjab Kings, has notably accepted the offer made by Sanjiv Goenka to join the new Lucknow franchise.
It has also been reported that Mumbai Indians are considering the option of releasing Suryakumar Yadav as they plan to buy him back in the mega auctions. But in between, the right-handed batsman was approached by one of the two new franchises - Lucknow or Ahmedabad - but the Mumbai player has notably not yet responded on the same.
CSK set to retain Dhoni, Jadeja and Gaikwad
Among the present franchises, it has been learnt that Chennai Super Kings will retain the trio of MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Ruturaj Gaikwad, with either Moeen Ali or Sam Curran the overseas retention. This would mean that Suresh Raina will be released by the franchise for the first time ever in the history of IPL.
While Delhi Capitals are reportedly looking to retain Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Axar Patel and Anrich Nortje, Kolkata Knight Riders are once again set to retain the West Indies duo of Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. The SRK co-owned franchise is also keen to secure the services of Varun Chakravarthy and are notably pondering over the alternative of retaining either Shubman Gill or Venkatesh Iyer.
IPL teams' retentions (According to reports)
•MI - Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard, Ishan Kishan
•CSK - MS.Dhoni, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali
•DC - Rishabh Pant, Anrich Nortje, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw.
•KKR - Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Shubman Gill
•RCB - Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell