NEW DELHI: With the IPL auction nearing, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are retaining core players like Ruturaj Gaikwad and seeking fresh talent. Punjab Kings, under Ricky Ponting, are starting fresh and targeting Australian players. The Delhi Capitals are backing their spin duo but surprisingly did not retain former captain Rishabh Pant, hinting at a leadership shift. As the auction approaches, teams are ready to reshape their rosters for the upcoming season.
Chennai Super Kings
The Super Kings from Chennai were able to retain last year’s Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad (18 crores) as the first retention, while Sri Lankan pace bowler Matheesha Pathirana (13 crores) became their second retention, while the lower middle order combination of Shivam Dube (12 crores) and Ravindra Jadeja (18 crores) finished the list of capped players to be retained.
MS Dhoni (4 crore) was retained as the sole uncapped retention, but how can the veteran former India captain be an uncapped player? So the answer is simple: players who have not played for their country in the last five years lie under the bracket of uncapped players, making Chennai’s very own Thala the most likely candidate to be drafted again in the retention list by the franchise.
The auction strategy of the Chennai Super Kings should be to bring in young talents, as except for Pathirana, all the other players are above or near the 30-year mark, and a good blend of youth and experience is one thing CSK would like to have, irrespective of the franchise’s recent past not backing the youngsters and sticking to building a team full of veterans for experienced players.
CSK would like to get either Devon Conway or Rachin Ravindra back through RTM or by-back options in the auction as one that could accompany Ruturaj at the top.
The Chepauk has always helped the spinners; thus, the Chennai Super Kings will look to rope in players like Mitchell Santner, Mahesh Theekshana, or someone like Ravichandran Ashwin in their team to form a good spin bowling attack alongside Ravindra Jadeja.
Punjab Kings
The Punjab Kings, as they did in the previous mega option, have decided to start from a clean slate, with a whopping budget of 110.5 crores remaining in their kitty to use at the auction. Only middle-order batter Shashank Singh (5.5 crore) is retained alongside opener Prabhsimran Singh (4 crore).
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The constant change in the management of the Kings has been a certain now for the audiences to hear about, but a fresh addition of Oz Legend Ricky Ponting does spark as one that could help the team’s fortunes and performance.
With the inclusion of Ricky, it is certain that the Kings will for sure look at various Australian players to bring into their team some prospects like Mitchel Starc, Marcus Stoines, and Steve Smith who can be looked after by the team.
As the team is looking to find a new captain after the retirement of Shikhar Dhawan, Steve Smith can be a good overseas option for captaincy if they want to go down that road. Other than that, the Kings would certainly be vouching for either Shreyas Iyer or Rishabh Pant as their new captains, and if they decide to go full force for any of the two, they would likely be able to get that player due to the difference in the remaining purse capacity between them and the other teams.
With four RTM options available, the Kings for sure would look to bring back some of their key players, like Arshdeep Singh, Liam Livingstone, and Kagiso Rabada. This move of letting their players go in the option and getting them back through RTMs at a lower price can turn out to be a masterstroke or a blunder due to the auction dynamics.
Delhi Capitals
The Delhi Capitals chose to back their spin bowling duo, with Indian All-rounder Axar Patel (16.5 crore) being their first retention while Kuldeep Yadav (13.25 crore) got the second position on the list. The Capitals also backed the young South African middle order batter Tristian Stubbs (10 crore) by making him their only foreign retention, while the promising young wicketkeeper batter Abhishek Porel got retained as the sole uncapped player (4 crore).
The highlight point from the Delhi Capitals retention list was the exclusion of Indian wicketkeeper Batter Rishabh Pant, who captained the side last year. There were some speculations around Pant not being on common ground with one out of two ownership groups of the franchise, but this move of him not being retained signifies that the management is looking beyond him as their present and future captain.
The Capitals will look to strengthen their top-order batting as well as their fast bowling department in the upcoming auction. With two RTM’s still available, they will look to get back players like Jake Fraser-McGurk, who was one of their key players from the last season. The young Ozi opener played at an astonishing strike rate, giving the team a great start in the power play.
In the auctions, the Capitals can look to rope in their former captains, Shreyas Iyer or KL Rahul, to take the captaincy, as both players were captains of their respective franchises last season.