Khan quits SRH, IPL reality bites
Rashid Khan, KL Rahul choose to leave their franchises with the prospect of bigger price at the auction
MUMBAI: Twenty20 cricket’s best spinner, Rashid Khan, was let go by Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings didn’t retain skipper KL Rahul as Indian Premier League’s existing eight teams finalised player retentions on Tuesday.
The existing eight franchises followed a simple strategy, largely holding on to players who have done well in the last edition, or in the long run.
Rahul, it is understood, is heavily pursued by new franchises Lucknow and Ahmedabad and didn’t want to be retained. Khan was unhappy to be the second pick, behind skipper Kane Williamson, the gap between the two picks being Rs 4 crore.
The captains were most in demand with Chennai Super Kings (MS Dhoni), SRH (Williamson), Mumbai Indians (Rohit Sharma), Delhi Capitals (Rishabh Pant) and Rajasthan Royals (Sanju Samson) retaining theirs.
Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore and PK will have to find a captain in the auction in January. Eoin Morgan captained KKR last season with success, though his batting form was poor. Kohli gave up the RCB captaincy. Among the new discoveries, only Venkatesh Iyer (KKR), Ruturaj Gaikwad (CSK) and Arshdeep Singh (PK) were retained.
A look at the players retained:
Royal Challengers
Kohli was an automatic pick given his brand value, though he has taken a pay cut (₹17cr to ₹15 cr). “We considered sixseven plyers before deciding on three. Virat is the rock at the top of the order. Though he will not captain, he will still be a leader among the group,” said Mike Hesson, RCB director of cricket operations. With AB de Villiers retiring, Australian all-rounder Maxwell becomes more crucial.
“Maxwell can switch-hit; it means he can take on different types of spinners,” Hesson said.
It was a tough decision to make for the third retention. The toss-up was between Siraj and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. RCB also need extra money to get a captaincy candidate. Siraj’s rise as a T20 bowler settled it over last edition’s highest wicket-taker, Harshal Patel.
Mumbai Indians
Skipper Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah were automatic picks. MI stuck to plan and retained veteran all-rounder Kieron Pollard. MI value his sixhitting ability that has helped reel in lost games. Last season, he hit a match-winning 34-ball 87* against CSK. In 178 games for MI, his strike rate is 149.77.
Suryakumar Yadav though was the third pick, ahead of Pollard. He was preferred over Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya, who is struggling to bowl since his back surgery. Yadav is a proven performer under pressure and can single-handedly carry the team through. He is versatile and can set the tone at No 3 or be a finisher at No 7. “It was going to be the toughest retention for MI. It was really heartbreaking to let go of the rest. Hopefully we can form a very good team around the four core players,” Rohit Sharma said.
Punjab Kings
With skipper KL Rahul opting for the auctions, opening partner Mayank Agarwal was the first retention. “Agarwal has done very well for us. He is a potential leader, has been around IPL and the Indian team for a long time and has the experience,” chief coach Anil Kumble said. “We wanted to retain him (Rahul), but he decided to go into auction and we respect that.”
Arshdeep Singh, among the new crop of domestic pacers who can clock 135kph plus and has control and variations was retained. The left-arm took 18 wickets in 12 games last season.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Having dropped David Warner, Rashid Khan was let go apparently because he wanted to be the first pick over Williamson. SRH said they will try and get Khan in the auctions. Jammu & Kashmir rookies Abdul Samad and Umran Malik, who will cost just ₹4 crore each, are the other retentions. Jonny Bairstow was also let go. “This is not a goodbye as we hope to welcome back some Risers in the auction,” an SRH Instagram post said.
Warner expressed gratitude to the fans and penned an emotional note to confirm he won’t play for SRH next season. Bairstow had formed a strong opening partnership with Warner, scoring 1,401 runs in 24 innings at an average of 58.37.
Rajasthan Royals
Skipper Sanju Samson was retained as the first pick. Though he showed better consistency last season with the bat, there was doubt if he wanted to stay with the franchise.
Jos Buttler, probably the world’s best T20 batsman on current form, was the other pick. RR let go of big names Ben
Stokes and Jofra Archer. They had banked heavily on the England all-rounder when they bought him for ₹12.5 crore at the 2018 auction, but he failed to make an impact. He is also just back from a break due to mental health issues. Archer is recovering from injury. Uncapped opener Yashasvi Jaiswal also made the cut.
Delhi Capitals
Capitals continued to show faith in youngsters, retaining skipper Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw and Axar Patel. They had to make a tough decision to fill the pacer’s spot, going for the electric pace of Proteas player Anrich Nortje over the experience and class of Kagiso Rabada and quality of Avesh Khan. DC had to let go Shreyas Iyer and Shikhar Dhawan as owner Parth Jindal questioned the auction process. “It’s not fair that you build a team, groom them and they play for their countries and you lose them in the end. IPL needs to have a look at it, but it is what it is. I wish our outgoing players the best. With the money we have, we’re going to try and bring as many of them back as possible.”
Kolkata Knight Riders
The find of the season Venkatesh Iyer, mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy and veteran all-rounders Sunil Narine and Andre Russell were retained. Iyer’s dashing batting at the top and Narine’s bowling were instrumental in KKR’s run to the IPL final. Surprisingly, skipper Eoin Morgan and opener Shubman Gill were not retained.
Chennai Super Kings
MS Dhoni will get the opportunity to say good bye to his CSK fans at Chennai though he is unlikely to play for more than a season. He was the second pick of the franchise, after Ravindra Jadeja.
All-rounder Moeen Ali, who made the difference for the 2021 champions with the bat at the top or middle-order and bowled useful overs, was the third pick with IPL’s highest run-getter Ruturaj Gaikwad the fourth. According to Star Sports expert Parthiv Patel, Jadeja is captainin-waiting for CSK.