MUMBAI: As the deadline for Indian Premier League retentions ended on Thursday evening, one thing was clear. KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer — three IPL captains, including the one who won the title less than six months ago — are set to light up the mega auction that will be held later this month.
The news does not come as a big surprise as the murmurs and speculations have been doing rounds for more than week. Change in Delhi Capitals management, fall out between Rahul and Lucknow Super Giants management, and Kolkata looking for their most valuable all-rounders meant three proven IPL stars are set to find a new house at the auction.
The last time Rahul went under the hammer was in 2018 when Punjab signed him for Rs 11 crore. Pant hasn’t been through an auction since he was first signed by Delhi Capitals in 2016 for Rs 1.9 crore. Iyer, who was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 12.25 crore in 2022 and led them to title in 2024, will also be looking for a team.
What makes it all the more interesting is the retentions of the other teams and the options they have in the auction. Punjab Kings, for example, have the biggest purse of Rs 110.5 crore and are expected to go after Rishabh Pant, especially with Ricky Ponting joining them as head coach. Other teams will be eyeing the India keeper as well such as Chennai Super Kings. However, with their five retentions — including MS Dhoni as uncapped player — it might be difficult for them to match the price at the auction.
Rahul, meanwhile, could find a home in Royal Challengers Bengaluru as they are likely to go hard for the local lad. Having already retained Virat Kohli for Rs 21 crore, they have Rs 83 crore in their purse to build a team for the future. Iyer, meanwhile, could come back to Delhi with the captaincy spot opening up after the release of Pant. None of it could be said for sure as IPL auctions are always unpredictable. A lot will depend on whose name comes up when and how much teams have left in their purse at the time.
Some teams, have gone all-in with their key players, keeping the core intact. CSK have retained their captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, Matheesha Pathirana, Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube along with Dhoni. Apart from Chennai, Mumbai Indians have managed to retain their core group of players barring Ishan Kishan. This means Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma will remain in blue while Kishan will be playing for a new team. Having already retained five capped Indians, Mumbai cannot use Right To Match for Kishan at the auction.
Similarly, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals too have made sure their star signings remain with them. Among this, Heinrich Klaasen will be the highest-paid player having been retained by SRH for Rs 23 crore. Next on the list is Nicholas Pooran for Rs 21 crore by LSG. For GT, captain Shubman Gill seems to have agreed on a lower price (Rs 16.5 crore) to ensure they can afford to retain their key players, including Rashid Khan (Rs 18 crore).
As it has been the case earlier, overseas stars have gone for big money, but so have a lot of Indian players. From Riyan Parag to Dhruv Jurel to Rinku Singh to Rajat Patidar to Abhishek Sharma, several youngsters have been retained for more than Rs 10 crore. Among players who have never played for India, Shashank Singh (Rs 5.5 crore) tops the list for Punjab. The likes of Mayank Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy, both of whom recently played for India, too will see a windfall in terms of their retention.
To sum it up, teams have largely ensured the players who are key to their success over the next few years are not going under the hammer while letting go of those who they can for various reasons. And some of them might go for a bigger price at the auction. But as things stand, it is hard to look past Iyer, Pant and Rahul. Whoever signs them will be building their squad around the respective player.