Chennai Super Kings
MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Moeen Ali
MS Dhoni will be seen in yellow jersey again in IPL 2022. Defending Champions, Chennai Super Kings have decided to retain captain MS Dhoni for the next three seasons, ahead of the mega auction.
Apart from Dhoni, the franchise has also reportedly decided to retain their star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Moeen Ali. Given IPL 2022 to be played in India, Moeen can be a valuable asset for CSK on the slow and turning track at Chepauk. Smart move by CSK to retain Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has shown terrific consistency in the IPL 2021. He also became the youngest player to win the Orange Cap with 635 runs in IPL 2021.
Mumbai Indians
Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard
Rohit, Bumrah, and Pollard – These three names were always expected to be there, it was about that last spot only. There were three options for that position – Hardik or Surya Kumar Yadav or Ishan Kishan. Mumbai Indians have gone with the flamboyant top-order batsman Surya Kumar Yadav, who has been among the runs for Mumbai for the last 4 seasons.
Delhi Capitals
Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje and Axar Patel
Delhi Capitals have retained skipper Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, and pacer Anrich Mortje. DC have let go star batter Shreyas Iyer, who wanted to lead the team. But the franchise wants Rishabh Pant to continue as the skipper.
Delhi Capitals could’ve thought of retaining Avesh Khan, who has been phenomenal with the ball. Avesh made a massive impact in the IPL 2021. He was exceptional with the new ball, in the middle overs and also at the death. In IPL 2021, Avesh picked 24 wickets in 16 games at a strike rate of 15.25, with an impressive economy of 7.18.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Siraj
RCB has made three retentions ahead of the mega auction of IPL 2022- Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and Mohammad Siraj. Challengers have let go Yuzi Chahal, who has been one of the assets for the franchise and has performed consistently over the last few years. Harshal Patel, who recently made his T20I debut against New Zealand is also not retained by RCB. Harshal was the current purple cap holder in IPL 2021 with a whopping 32 wickets in 15 matches at a strike rate of 10.56.
Punjab Kings
Mayank Agarwal, Arshdeep Singh
KL Rahul has part ways with PBKS and can be seen leading the new Lucknow franchise. IPL 2022 will be a ten-team affair and two new teams owners Sanjiv Goenka’s RPSG group and CVC Capitals have approached a few top Indian players. And, as per the reports, Rahul has agreed with the deal with Lucknow.
Mayank Agarwal and left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh stay at Punjab Kings. Arshdeep was consistent with the ball throughout the IPL 2021. He had 18 scalps by his name in 12 matches at an economy rate of 8.27. The 22-year-old was at the 8th position in highest wicket-taker this season. He was also named as one of five net bowlers for India’s tour of Sri Lanka 2021.
Shocked to see Punjab Kings didn’t retain the young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi and the hitter Shahrukh Khan.
Bishnoi has created an impact in the UAE leg of IPL 2021. The leg spinner picked 12 wickets in 9 games at a brilliant economy rate of 6.34. The thing that impressed the most about Bishnoi is his fearless attitude. He was not afraid to toss the ball up, even after going for boundaries. Bishnoi has picked the wickets of some big names with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Manish Pandey, Surya Kumar Yadav. Bishnoi is also an electric fielder and has taken some blinders on the field this season. Shahrukh Khan is a great striker of the ball and has been a great finisher for the team. Recently, in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final, Shahrukh hit the last ball six to clinch the title against Karnataka.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer
Kolkata Knight Riders have retained their two all-rounders Sunil Narine and Andre Russell along with mystery spinner Varun Chakravarty, and Venkatesh Iyer.
KKR has let go of opener Shubman Gill. It’s a big miss, considering in one of the interviews, head coach Brendon McCullum has said that Gill was a part of the leadership group at KKR. However, Gill hasn’t been in the best of his form in the last 2 seasons. So, in place of Gill, KKR has made a choice to go with the all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer.
Venkatesh Iyer was one of the finds of the IPL 2021 and was one of the main reasons behind KKR’s turnaround in the second half of IPL 2021. The 26-year-old has scored 329 runs in 9 matches at a decent strike rate of 125.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad, Umran Malik
Sunrisers couldn’t hold back a lot of big names but have made a huge blunder by not retaining, the spin wizard Rashid Khan and explosive opener David Warner.
Rashid Khan joined SRH in 2017 and has been one of the pillars of the franchise. However, it’s not just the franchise that determines retention – a player must accept their offer too. And in this case, it’s most possibly the latter one, as Rashid might not have been happy with what was offered.
The orange Army has retained captain Kane Williamson as a captain, their two other retentions are Jammu & Kashmir rookies Abdul Samad and Umran Malik, both cost them INR 4 crore each from their purse.
Rajasthan Royals
Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal
Rajasthan has made the tough call of leaving out Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer. Although Jofra has been suffering from injuries in the recent past, he has been one of the best bowlers in the IPL. Jofra was phenomenal with the new ball, middle overs, death overs and is also a handy batsman. Ben Stokes hasn’t really justified his price tag for RR and hasn’t performed up to his expectations.
Rajsthan has retained captain Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, and youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal. Royals have released some big names like Liam Livingstone, Chris Morris, Evin Lewis, David Miller, and a young fast bowler Kartik Tyagi.