The Indian Premier League 2022 is going to get bigger and better with the inclusion of two new teams - Lucknow and Ahmedabad. The 10 teams will reportedly be divided into two groups of 5 teams each as per the new format. Notably, there will be 74 matches in the season which will be played over the course of more than 60 days, with the finale likely to take place on June 4 or 5.
It is to be noted that the BCCI has set up some new guidelines and policies for player retention. Each franchise can retain up to four players. A list of the same will be submitted to the officials by the 30th November. During the last season, Rishabh Pant led DC in Shreyas Iyer's absence. Notably, under Pant's captaincy, the team has been doing extremely well.
As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, Delhi Capitals will retain four players. They are wicket-keeper batter Rishbah Pant, spinner Axar Patel, overseas pacer Anrich Nortje and young opener Prithvi Shaw. The management has decided to stick with Rishabh Pant as the Delhi skipper.
Shreyas Iyer to head to player auction
Meanwhile, middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer will head for the player auction. He will look for other teams in the IPL and is also hoping for a leadership opportunity. The team will have to wait till the 30th November to make an official announcement about the player retention. Now if the reports are accurate, it might be possible that Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravichandran Ashwin and Kagiso Rabada will be released.
Earlier, it had been reported that Chennai Super Kings will retain MS Dhoni as captain for next three seasons. Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians will retain skipper Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah.
The upcoming IPL season is set to return to India. Chennai's M.A. Chidambaram stadium will reportedly host the opening game on 2nd April 2022.