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Virat Kohli, who has retired from T20 Internationals, became the most expensive Indian to be retained — by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for Rs 21 crore, followed by fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who was retained by Mumbai Indians for Rs 18 crore. As expected MS Dhoni, at 43, still remains the part of the IPL as it enters the 18th edition with Chennai Super Kings retaining him as an uncapped player for Rs 4 crore.
Jasprit Bumrah getting the top spot with Rs 18 crore ahead of captain Hardik Pandya (Rs 16.35 crores) was the talking point in Mumbai Indians’ retention list. Suryakumar Yadav was also retained for Rs 16.35 crore, while Rohit Sharma will get Rs 16.30 crore. Tilak Varma is the fifth player retained at Rs 8 crore. Despite retaining a core intact, which includes all Indians, MI still has Rs 55 crore in the bank to spend on.
“Since I have retired from the format, I think this is the perfect spot (4th player) for me. The players who are representing the national team at the highest level should get the preference. That’s what I believe in and I am quite happy with it,” Rohit said in a video.
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📹 | Watch 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 ft. Rohit Sharma 🌍#MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians pic.twitter.com/ovn5pZIREz
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) October 31, 2024
For the first time since the 2008, the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) auction pool will have plenty of star-studded Indian players including Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammed Shami in the auction pool as the 10 franchises released their retention list on Thursday.
Ahead of the deadline, all eyes were on the Chennai Super Kings retention list. With Pant available in the auction pool, CSK has a potential long-term replacement in place of MS Dhoni. But the biggest challenge for them was if they could go into the auction with a substantial purse. The franchise even considered releasing Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube and get them back via Right To Match card.
But eventually, with Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru set to enter the auctions with a much larger purse, CSK have chosen to play it safe and have chosen to retain their core. As a result Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja ended up being their highest retainers at Rs 18 crore each followed by Matheesha Pathirana (Rs 13 crore), Shivam Dube (Rs 12 crore) and Dhoni as an uncapped player costing Rs 4 crore.
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📹 | Watch 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 ft. Rohit Sharma 🌍#MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians pic.twitter.com/ovn5pZIREz
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) October 31, 2024
With Dhoni having struggled with his knee in the last couple of seasons, it would be interesting to see who the franchise turns to for the wicketkeepers slot. Getting Pant remains a tough prospect as they will enter the auction with only Rs 65 crore.
Punjab Kings – which retained only the uncapped Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh — with Rs 110.5 in their purse could end up being a likely destination for Pant as he could reunite with Ricky Ponting who is the head coach at the franchise. Having lost Pant, Delhi have retained Axar Patel (Rs 16.50 crore), Kuldeep Yadav (Rs 13.25 crore), Tristan Stubbs (Rs 10 crore), Abishek Porel Rs 4 crore).
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 31, 2024
As previously reported, this season has seen player power dictate the terms, with several franchises struggling to find a middle ground in terms of money with Indian players. It means, defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders have not been able to retain their captain Shreyas Iyer. However, they have managed to keep their Caribbean stars Andre Russell and Sunil Narine for Rs 12 crore each. Varun Chakravarthy has also been retained again for Rs 12 crore, but it is Rinku Singh who gets the top pay at Rs 13 crore.
Rajasthan Royals, like Mumbai Indians, have chosen to retain their Indian core by keeping both Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiwal for Rs 18 crore each. Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel get Rs 14 crore each, while Sandeep Sharma has cost them Rs 4 crore as an uncapped player. They have also retained Shimron Hetmyer for Rs 11 crore.
