Former India captain MS Dhoni will once again be seen in his favourite yellow jersey in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) as the Chennai Super Kings retained the Ranchi lad along with Suresh Raina and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Dhoni has been retained for Rs 15 crore while Raina and Jadeja were kept for Rs 11 crore and Rs 7 crore respectively.
The CSK franchise, back into the IPL folds after serving a two-year ban, has two Right to Match (RTM) options left, which they can use during the IPL auction on January 27 and 28.
Rajasthan Royals, the other franchise to return after a two-year ban, has retained Australia skipper Steve Smith (Rs 12 crore) and surprisingly pushed the likes of India star batsman Ajinkya Rahane back into the auctions.
The other surprise came in the form of Gautam Gambhir, who was sent into the auction pool despite guiding the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to lifting the silverware twice (2012 and 2014). The Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan-co-owned franchise retained the West Indian duo of Sunil Narine (Rs 8.5 crore) and Andre Russell (Rs 7 crore).
Similarly, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) released West Indies swashbuckling opener Chris Gayle while retained India skipper Virat Kohli (Rs 17 crore), South Africa’s AB de Villiers (Rs 11 crore) and young Sarfraz Khan (Rs 1.75 crore).
Delhi Daredevils expectedly retained the young Indian duo of Rishabh Pant (Rs 8 crore) and Shreyas Iyer (Rs 7 crore) along with the South African all-rounder Chris Morris (Rs 7.1 crore).
Mumbai Indians also went along expected lines retaining their three-time IPL winning skipper Rohit Sharma (Rs 15 crore) along with all-rounder Hardik Pandya (Rs 11 crore) and death-overs bowling specialist Jasprit Bumrah (Rs 7 crore). Rohit guided the Mumbai franchise to IPL titles in 2013, 2015 and 2017.
Sunrisers Hyderabad also sprang a surprise by releasing India opener Shikhar Dhawan but retained Australia opener David Warner (Rs 12 crore) along with pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Rs 8 crore).
After another dismal 10th edition of IPL, Kings XI Punjab retained just left-arm spinner Axar Patel (Rs 6.75 crore) for the next season.
Here is the complete list of retained players:
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja
Delhi Daredevils: Shreyas Iyer, Chris Morris, Rishabh Pant
Kings XI Punjab: Axar Patel
Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine, Andre Russell
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya
Rajasthan Royals: Steven Smith
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan (uncapped)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
