Dhoni for CSK, Gambhir released
MUMBAI: Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be back in the familiar yellow colours of Chennai Super Kings when the IPL XI begins in April. CSK, back after serving a twoyear ban, retained Dhoni for ~15 crore on Thursday.
On expected lines, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians went for their captains Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, respectively. The India skipper was retained for ~17 crore making him the highest paid player. Australia captain Steve Smith was Rajasthan Royals’s only pick while Sunrisers Hyderabad retained David Warner.
The biggest surprise was RCB’S decision to pick uncapped hard-hitting batsman Sarfaraz Khan as their third player after Virat and AB de Villiers, thereby releasing Chris Gayle. Sarfaraz was injured and missed the entire last season. RCB team director Amrit Thomas said Sarfaraz’s selection had Kohli’s blessings. “All cricketing decisions are taken by captain Virat and coach Dan (Vettori). The captain has to get the team he wants,” Amrit Thomas told Hindustan Times.
KKR RETAIN NARINE
KKR too sprung a surprise when they chose not to retain skipper Gautam Gambhir under whom they won two IPL titles. Gambhir is the fourth-highest scorer in IPL with 4132 runs in 147 innings. KKR opted to retain Sunil Narine, their premier spinner who last year shone as a pinch hitter at the top of the order. Andre Russell, the hard-hitting medium-pace bowling all-rounder, who has served a one-year doping ban, was KKR’S other retention.
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya was the second player bagged by Mumbai, and Jasprit Bumrah third. Bumrah has been India’s best bowler in one-dayers and T20s ever since making his debut in 2016. “Rohit is synonymous with the Mumbai Indians and Pandya and Bumrah are our two finds. They are now the two pillars of the Indian team and also the Mumbai Indians side,” said owner Akash Ambani.
CSK also retained Suresh Raina and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. “Dhoni is extremely excited, he is waiting to wear the yellow jersey again and we are excited to have him back. We are looking forward to building a team. We just want to retain the core, which is what we have always done,” said CSK Team Director George John.
Delhi Daredevils reposed their faith in youngsters Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer. Although, Pant will draw a bigger purse, DD CEO Hemant Dua said their first pick was South African all-rounder Chris Morris.
“In our records, Morris is our first retention,” said Dua. Pant had a below-par first-class season, but Dua said: “Anyone can have one bad season. And, red ball and white ball are different ball games. And, Pant is still the captain of Delhi Ranji team,” said Dua.