All eight IPL team have to submit their final list of retained players by November 30 ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction expected to take place in December. The Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) had earlier released the retention policy for IPL franchises. Each team is allowed to retain a maximum of 4 players, with up to 2 foreign players.
It has been reported by NDTV that Royal Challengers Bangalore are likely to retain the services of captain Virat Kohli and Australian Glen Maxwell. The retention of the all-rounder won’t be surprising given that RCB won’t be able to retain star player AB de Villiers, who recently announced his retirement.
RCB may also retain Yuzvendra Chahal as part of their four-player quota. Former Indian batsman Akash Chopra has picked Kohli and Chahal as his top two predictions for RCB’s retained players. Chopra named Devdutt Padikkal as his third pick and named two players, Harshal Patel and Mohammad Siraj, to be contenders for the fourth spot. He surprisingly left out Maxwell from his picks.
Meanwhile, a number of other IPL teams including CSK and MI have reportedly decided their player retentions for IPL 2022.
Mumbai Indians is reportedly keen on retaining skipper Rohit Sharma and pacer Jasprit Bumrah. MI are said to be in talks with star West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard and could also keep youngster Ishan Kishan ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction. Suryakumar Yadav, a top performer for MI, could be released and rebought, as per reports.
The Indian Express reported that Chennai Super Kings will keep former Indian skipper MS Dhoni in their ranks for three more years, putting to bed his retirement rumours. CSK are also likely to retain the services of Ravindra Jadeja and emerging star Ruturaj Gaekwad. Either Moeen Ali or Sam Curran could fill up the fourth spot for IPL 2021 champions.
Kolkata Knight Riders are likely to name their West Indian stars Andre Russell and Sunil Narine as the retention choices. Other players in the mix are spin bowler Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer and Shubman Gill. Gill and Iyer put it outstanding displays for KKR as the team charted its course to the final in the UAE phase of IPL 2021.
