Four-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have reportedly retained their captain MS Dhoni for the next three seasons of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL).
As per a report in The Indian Express, CSK opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was the Orange Cap winner in IPL 2021, and star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja have also been retained by the franchise ahead of the mega auction, scheduled to be held in December.
Notably, as per the BCCI’s retention policy for IPL 2022, all teams are allowed to retain a maximum of four players and a list of the retention has to be submitted by November 30.
Meanwhile, CSK are also reportedly in talks with England all-rounder Moeen Ali to take the final retention spot however, if it doesn’t happens for any reason, the Yellow Brigade would aim to retain England all-rounder Sam Curran.
Notably, if the report comes true, it would mean that CSK star batter Suresh Raina will be going under the manner during the mega auctions.
On the other hand, Mumbai Indians, another most successful franchise of the lucrative league, are set to retain skipper Rohit Sharma and pacer Jasprit Bumrah.
The report further said that negotiations for Kieron Pollard are still on wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan can also be retained.
The Rohit-led franchise are also aiming to sign Suryakumar Yadav at the mega auction.
Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals (DC) are set to retain Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw and South African pacer Anrich Nortje.
Moreover, Punjab Kings’ skipper KL Rahul is most likley to part ways with the Ness Wadia and Preity Zinta co-owned franchise and will reportedly lead the newly inducted Lucknow franchise in the IPL 2022.
Three-time champions and IPL 2021 runners-up Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will retain West Indian duo of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine while negotiations with spinner Varun Chakravarthy, Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer are still on.
Significantly, the next edition of the IPL will now be a ten-team affair following the addition of Ahmedabad and Lucknow franchise recently and will reportedly begin on April 2 in Chennai.
Recently, in his speech at CSK’s fourth IPL win celebration event in Chennai, board secretary Jay Shah had said that the IPL will be making a return to India after the entire 2020 season and a half-season of 2021 edition were staged in the UAE due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I know you all are waiting to see the CSK play at Chepauk. Well, the moment is not very far. The 15th season of the IPL will take place in India and it will be more exciting than ever with two new teams joining. We have a mega auction coming up, so it will be interesting to see what the new combinations look like,” Shah had said at the function.
On the other hand, the Mega Auction for the next IPL season will be staged in December and the board secretary expected that the event will be ever more interesting with new combinations.
“We have a mega auction coming up, so it will be interesting to see what the new combinations look like,” Shah had further said.