Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
According to the latest reports, Sanju Samson is the first player which Rajasthan Royals have retained for IPL 2022 ahead of IPL mega auction. The wicketkeeper batter had joined the franchise in 2018 for INR 8 crore. He was made skipper last season and he enjoyed an impressive run of form, finishing the season 2021 with 484 runs at an impressive strike-rate of 137.
According to a report from ESPNCricinfo, the 27-year old will continue as Rajasthan Royals captain after agreeing to an INR 14 crore per season contract this week. Meanwhile, it has been learnt that the franchise is also interested in retaining Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone and Yashasvi Jaiswal, according to a report.
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. All the eight existing teams have time till November 30 to announce the list of players they would retain.
Sanju Samson recently led the Kerala side in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021. The team also included some key names like Robin Uthappa, Sachin Baby, Mohammed Azharuddeen. The Kerala team lost to Tamil Nadu by five wickets in the quarterfinals. Samson finished the season with 227 runs from 7 matches at an average of 75.67.
Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals have decided to retain their skipper Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje and Axar Patel. Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will retain MS Dhoni as captain for next three seasons.
Five-time Indian Premier League champions Mumbai Indians will retain skipper Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah. Mumbai failed to reach the playoffs in the 2021 season after a string of poor performances.