IPL 2022 Retention - Dhoni, Kohli, Rohit, Williamson retained; Rahul, Rashid, Pandya released

KL Rahul, Rashid Khan, David Warner, Hardik Pandya and Shreyas Iyer are among the big names entering the IPL 2022 auction.

Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni retained by the respective franchise. (©BCCI)

With the curtains drawing on the player retention deadline on Tuesday, the eight current Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises filed their player retention list for the next season.

While most of the retentions filed out this time around were expected, some big names failing to make the cut willingly have made it to the surprising highlights. As expected, names including MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Glenn Maxwell, Andre Russell among others have reserved their retention spots, while surprising misses, which include Rashid Khan, KL Rahul, and Hardik Pandya have mustered a lot of questions around their absence from the list.

On that note, let’s get straight into the final list of players who have managed to earn their spot back into the squad.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

Four-time IPL champions and the winners of the previous season, Chennai Super Kings have retained for of their key layers including their captain MS Dhoni as well as Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, and Ruturaj Gaikwad. With all of their four retentions complete, CSK is now left with INR 48 crores in their kit.

Retention figures: Ravindra Jadeja (16 crores), MS Dhoni (12 crores), Moeen Ali (8 crores), Ruturaj Gaikwad (6 crores)

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

IPL 14 runners-up Kolkata Knight Riders have filled in all four of their retention slots, two of whom are from outside India. In terms of international retentions, KKR has chosen Andre Russell and Sunil Narine. Varun Chakravarthy and newcomer Venkatesh Iyer round out the group's retention. They are now left with INR 48 crores in their purse.

Retention figures: Andre Russell (12 crores), Varun Chakravarthy (8 crores), Venkatesh Iyer (8 crores), Sunil Narine (6 crores)

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)

Sunrisers Hyderabad registered Kane Williamson’s name as their first retained player for IPL 2022. The franchise chose not to fill all of their four retention slots and retained a total of three players. Aside from Williamson, the names of the other two players include Umran Malik, who made a name for himself in his debut IPL appearance last season by throwing the fastest delivery recorded in the tournament, and Abdul Samad. After retaining three players, SRH is left with INR 68 crores in their bag.

Retention figures: Kane Williamson (14 crores), Abdul Samad (4 crores), Umran Malik (4 crores)

Mumbai Indians (MI)

Mumbai Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah have been retained. Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard have also cut into the retention list, completing all four retentions of the franchise. They will have INR 48 crores to spend during the mega auction.

Retention figures: Rohit Sharma (16 crores), Jasprit Bumrah (12 crores), Suryakumar Yadav (8 crores), Kieron Pollard (6 crores)

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell have been retained by Royal Challengers Bangalore. Apart from the two, Mohammed Siraj has reserved his spot in the team while the franchise has left the last retention spot vacant. The franchise will have INR 57 crores to rope in players during the auction.

Retention figures: Virat Kohli (15 crores), Glenn Maxwell (11 crores), Mohammed Siraj (7 crores)

Delhi Capitals (DC)

The IPL 2020 runners-up have chosen to keep Rishabh Pant at the helm of the team. They've also put their confidence in Prithvi Shaw, a dangerous opener, and Axar Patel, a left-arm spinner. Anrich Nortje has been chosen for the abroad spot. They now have INR 47.5 crores remaining with them to spend in the auction.

Retention figures: Rishabh Pant (16 crores), Axar Patel (9 crores), Prithvi Shaw (7.5 crores), Anrich Nortje (6.5 crores)

Rajasthan Royals (RR)

Rajasthan Royals have retained skipper Sanju Samson, while they chose to fill two other retention spots with Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal, leaving one spot vacant as of now. They now have INR 62 crores to wager at the auction and complete their squad.

Retention figures: Sanju Samson (14 crores), Jos Buttler (10 crores), Yashasvi Jaiswal (4 crores)

Punjab Kings (PBKS)

Punjab Kings, reportedly, initially planned on heading into the mega auction with full INR 90 crores in their purse by leaving their retention spots empty and stocking up with a fresh batch. However, they went against that plan and retained two players including Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh. They have left the remaining two spots open for filling in from the auction pool.

Retention figures: Mayank Agarwal (12 crores), Arshdeep Singh (4 crores)

IPL 2022 Retention rules and Salary cap

A franchise would be able to maintain up to three Indian players (capped or uncapped) and two foreign players, with a maximum of four retentions. Furthermore, a team cannot maintain more than two uncapped players, according to the rules.

The team management has the option of keeping three Indian players and one overseas player, or two Indian players and two international players, depending on the circumstances.

Before the commencement of the auction in 2022, two new IPL clubs can choose any two Indian and one international player from the Mega auction pool. Moreover, before the auction, new franchises pick up only one uncapped player each.

If a team keeps four players, the total purse would be reduced by INR 42 crores (INR 90 crores). The prize will drop by INR 33 crores if they keep three participants. They'll have to pay INR 24 crores for two retentions.

If only one player is kept, they would have to pay INR 14 crores. A total of INR 4 crores will be withheld from each player's purse for uncapped players.

Remaining Purse of Franchises for IPL 2022 Auction (©Cricinfo)

Notable retention misses

1. Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, Suresh Raina, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur of CSK: Leaving out big guns like Faf du Plessis and Bravo was a challenging task for the franchise as accepted by L Balaji. However, there are only as many spots as they can retain.

2. Rashid Khan, David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, and Manish Pandey of SRH: Rashid Khan not making it into the list has received an eyebrow-raising reaction. However, according to sources, it was not the franchise that chose to forgo their best bowler, but Rashid chose to back off. Reportedly, his decision has got to do with the order of the retentions and the pay gap. Moreover, the two new franchises are keen on adding him to their squads. So, it is expected that he might be seen in a new jersey this time around.

3. Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar of MI: After getting hit by injuries, Hardik Pandya has witnessed a major impact in his bowling performance and has been struggling to find his form as a result. The 28-year-old was left out of the retention list as he is undergoing a rehabilitation period as per the BCCI.

4. KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Ravi Bishnoi, Nicholas Pooran, Shahrukh Khan of PBKS: With KL Rahul forgoing the retention list of Punjab Kings, it is expected that he is eyeing one of the new franchises introduced in the tournament. If reports are to be believed, the Lucknow franchise is highly pursuing the all-rounder are willing to spend as much as INR 20 crores to rope him in.

5. Shreyas Iyer, Avesh Khan, Kagiso Rabada, R Ashwin of DC: Shreyas Iyer has surprisingly failed to make the cut into the retention list of the franchise he captained prior to Rishabh Pant. As per DC officials, leaving out Iyer was a difficult task for them and a catch step due to the BCCI’s retention policy.

6. Devdutt Padikkal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harshal Patel of RCB

7. Eoin Morgan, Shubman Gill, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana of KKR

8. Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, David Miller, Chris Morris, Liam Livingstone of RR: RR’s IPL 2020 MVP player Jofra Archer has missed out on the retention list as the player’s elbow injury which has required surgery has kept him out of action for quite some time now and he is not expected to return to action until next year.

Remaining purse of IPL teams ahead of Mega Auction

PBKS - 72cr.

SRH - 68cr.

RR - 62cr.

RCB - 57cr.

CSK - 48cr.

MI - 48cr.

KKR - 48cr.

DC - 47.5cr.

Some of the top twitter reactions from the IPL 2022 retention declaration:

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