Weeks before the mega auction for the next few editions of the Indian Premier League could take place, multiple franchises have all but made up their mind on the players they want to retain for the upcoming seasons.
As per a report in The Indian Express, as many as four franchises such as the Chennai Super Kings, the Delhi Capitals, the Mumbai Indians, the Kolkata Knight Riders have finalised the players they want to retain.
The defending champions, the Chennai Super Kings have finalised to retain their talisman MS Dhoni before the mega auction. Dhoni has not been vocal about his plans and has been giving only mixed signals on his future plans as the skipper of the Super Kings.
Apart from MSD, the Super Kings have marked the all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, and the young opener Ruturaj Gaikwad as the other two retentions among their Indian players. From the list of overseas players, the side in yellow are yet to finalise one among Moeen Ali or Sam Curran as their players.
The Delhi Capitals have finalised their new skipper Rishabh Pant as their top retention for the next few editions. They have also marked the explosive opener, Prithvi Shaw and the all-rounder Axar Patel as their other two retentions among Indian players. Among their list of overseas players, they have finalised Anrich Nortje as their only foreign player.
The most successful franchise—the Mumbai Indians, have decided to retain their five-time IPL winning captain Rohit Sharma as their first retention. Apart from Rohit, they have also earmarked Jasprit Bumrah as their retention.
They have also finalised Kieron Pollard, who has been there with the franchise throughout the entire length of his career in IPL and they are having discussions with him. They have also finalised Ishan Kishan as their fourth retention and talks are underway with him as well.
The Kolkata Knight Riders have finalised just two names as Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, who have been at the forefront of their success in so many past seasons. They have not made any retentions from among Indian players.