The IPL player retentions in early January saw a total of 18 players being retained by the eight franchises
The eight Indian Premier League franchises will go to player acquisition process at the auction on Saturday with a total purse of Rs 451.5 crore. And there will be limit which restricts a team to retain a maximum of 20 players by exercising their respective "Rights-to-Match (RTM)" option.
The IPL player retentions in early January saw a total of 18 players being retained by the eight franchises, including Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) who are making a comeback following a two-year spot-fixing ban imposed by Supreme Court-appointed Justice Lodha panel.
While there were more than 1,000 players registered for the auctions initially, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) trimmed the list of players to 578 early this week.
Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders shocked everyone by not retaining their most successful captain Gautam Gambhir going into the auctions. Though KKR still have the option of using the RTM card to get back Gambhir, it may not do so. However, the similar option may be used to retain Manish Pandey in the squad.
According to sources, KKR have zeroed in on Indian offie Ravichandran Ashwin to lead the squad this time around. And that's the reason that Kolkata-based franchise has decided to chase the former Chennai Super Kings player till a point, knowing well that the Chennai team has limited money to match the huge price.
Chennai have invested heavily on retaining trusted names — Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina — in the squad. However, it will be interesting to see to what extent the CSK will go to get back the likes of Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis and Brendon McCullum.
Despite Dhoni making noises about going after Ashwin in the auctions, it may not prove to be that easy because CSK cannot use their RTM card as they have already retained a maximum number of three capped Indian players.
Gambhir's future?
Ever since the 2011 auction, Gambhir has been an integral part of KKR, winning the title twice. And he has justified the big money spent on him by finishing amongst the top three run-getters then.
However now, Delhi's veteran faces an uncertain future as not a single IPL team has his name in their minds as a team leader. Having been relieved off Delhi's Ranji Trophy squad's captaincy earlier this season, Gambhir's plans to make a comeback into the Team India would hugely depend on the price that his name commands in the coming auction.
DNA has learnt that Delhi Daredevils have chalked out plans to get Gambhir back into the squad. But it will all depend on the price at what he would be available. If bidding on the southpaw batsman goes beyond a certain price, then Daredevils have a few more names in mind to go after.
The Delhi management is known for keeping its purse strings tight in the past too. The three retentions this time — Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and Chris Morris — has once again showed their intention of getting best value for every penny they spend.
Another team which may look interested in Gambhir could be Kings XI Punjab. But that would only be after securing the local stars Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh. The hint was dropped recently by Punjab team director Virender Sehwag.
Rahane out in cold
Another big name currently looking to be picked is Team India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane.
Though a consistent performer in all IPL seasons, Rahane was not retained by Rajasthan Royals. The team only retained Aussie skipper Steve Smith, and can again use RTM card to keep another of his teammate James Faulkner.
Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, have exhausted all their opportunities to exercise RTM option for any Indian player by already retaining Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah.
The Mumbai-based franchisee, though, can use this option to match the card for two overseas players. The other Pandya, Krunal, in any case is likely to be their top priority.
In case of Sunrisers Hyderabad, only proven match-winners like David Warner and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were kept in the squad. But they still have option to match RTM cards to retain Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh and Kane Williamson.
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