Dhoni back in CSK fold; RCB retain Kohli, de Villiers, Sarfaraz

Out of all the players retained by the franchises for the Indian Premier League 2018, which was announced here on Thursday, Mumbai batsman Sarfaraz Khan’s name raised eyebrows.

Royal Challengers Bangalore named him as their third retained player after Indian skipper Virat Kohli and South Africa’s Ab de Villiers.

RCB retained the 20- year old Sarfaraz for ` 3 crore.

After the announcement of Virat and de Villiers, there was a buzz in the air that spinner Yuzvendra Chahal or West Indian powerhouse Chris Gayle would be the next name but to the crowd’s surprise it was Sarfaraz, who played his last competitive T20 in February last year.

RCB chairman Amrit Thomas said, “Sarfaraz is one of the players we believe will rise to great heights, not just in the IPL but in world cricket.

“We believe that together, Virat, AB de Villers and Sarfaraz embody the ‘ play bold and fearless’ outlook that is inherent in RCB, and we are excited to retain them for IPL 2018.” Another bolt from the blue was Kolkata Knight Riders leaving out skipper Gautam Gambhir while retaining West Indies’ Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, a move which is been viewed as done to save the budget and use the Right to Match option at the players’ auctions.

Another opener from Delhi, Shikhar Dhawan was not retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The left- hander has been a part of their squad since the inception of the team.

V. V. S. Laxman, who represented the team, revealed David Warner and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar as the players retained by SRH.

Chennai Super Kings marked their return to the IPL by retaining their top three Indian players — M. S. Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja.

Six time finalists stuck to their core that helped them lift two IPL trophies in the past. The two time champions spent ` 33 crore to retain the trio. Delhi Daredevils CEO Hemant Dua announced that Ricky Ponting will take over as their head coach.

The capital- based team retained South African allrounder Chris Morris along with Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant.

In the 2017 season, Pant scored 366 runs in 14 games while Iyer amassed 338 runs in 12 games.

Champions of the first edition, Rajasthan Royals retained Australia skipper Steve Smith, the only player to be retained by them.

The fashionable batsman scored 472 runs in 15 games for Rising Pune Supergiant in the previous edition.

Kings XI Punjab retained the left- arm spinner Axar Patel, who is taking strides in international T20 cricket.

He has bagged 58 wickets in his 59 IPL games for the KXIP, which is co- owned by actress Preity Zinta. Champions Mumbai Indians have retained Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah to keep steadiness which leaves them with only ` 47 crore to spend on the players’ auction.

Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils are the other sides left with the same amount.

RR and KXIP are the ones with most in their balance (` 67.5 cr each).