IPL retentions article

IPL retentions were announced/confirmed today, with teams submitting their retentions for the players they plan to build around in the coming years. Perhaps even more signficant this time around, due to the news that there may not be another mega auction for the foreseeable future or possibly, forever. Franchises will be expected to become ‘self-sufficient’ and build their own networks for recruiting/scouting players, rather than relying on big re-sets every few years to possibly bail out their poor structures/recruitment previously.

As always with these sorts of things, there were definitely some questionable decisions from invidiual franchises, although it’s hard to be hypercrictical of some choices due to the increased player power at this auction. We can’t be 100% sure if teams have made recruitment errors or if players declined to stay at certain franchises, due to disagreements over their value or general unhapiness with the franchise they were at.

All in all, 27 players were retained across the eight teams, for fees totalling 269.5 cr, which is just under 37.5% of the orginal 720 cr available to the eight incumbent franchises. Of course some teams theoretically got cheaper deals on their players but that’s the amount that will be deducted from their purses and the remaining 450.5 cr is all they’ll have to spend between them.

Now let’s take a look at who was retained by each franchise:

Chennai Super Kings

CSK were always likely to have one of the simpler retention plans in my opinion. MS Dhoni’s retention was never really in any doubt, whether you like it or not, as long as he chose to carry on playing, he was staying. As a cricketer, I don’t think there’s many that would say he can justify his 12cr price tag anymore, however we don’t know the value he brings to the brand as such. Also he’s probably one of the few captains that you could definitely say has a postive impact through his decision making on a game to game basis, his usage of Moeen last season was just one example of that.

Similarly with Jadeja, his retention was never really in doubt, it was just a question over which price band he received. As it turns out Jadeja will earn 16cr, again he probably isn’t worth that much but CSK were always going to have this problem whoever they picked, as I don’t think they have any players worth that amount. This is similar for other franchises and you could argue it was a mistake IPL have made, rather than franchises themselves, as I think there are only a select few players that can justify a 16 cr price tag, funnily enough, quite a few of those haven’t been retained. Nevertheless, I’m not too fussed about Jadeja earning so much, he’s shown big improvements as a t20 ‘finisher’ with the bat and returning to Chepauk should aid his bowling.

Ruturaj Gaikwad was the third local player retained by CSK, at good value as well, only 6cr for a 24 y/o batter, who finished last season with over 600 runs. Great business from CSK and it seems like a good fit for both parties, with Gaikwad showing excellent ability against spin in his brief IPL career so far, with his offside range in particular being impressive, perhaps only matched by Mayank Agarwal.

That left a fourth spot for CSK to fill, which had to be an overseas player if CSK wanted to retain four players. I believe they made the correct decision retaining Moeen Ali, over other players. They’ve got themselves a high quality t20 batter, who bats with incredible intent vs spin and is also a strong match up bowler. At 8cr, I think it’s another reasonable deal for CSK.

Overall rating - 8/10

Other options: Faf du Plessis, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur & Deepak Chahar.

Overall, I think CSK have made the correct decisions. The only reason I didn’t rank it higher is becuase they’ve spent a lot of their purse to ensure they can retain four players and haven’t necessarily got value for money from some of those.

Delhi Capitals

Delhi’s retentions were known before today as they’d announced their retentions in advance. Overall I think they’ve done well, even if I would’ve preferred Avesh Khan being retain ahead of Axar. A strong local core has been a feature for them over the past four seasons, meaning they had plenty of options to choose from.

Rishabh Pant (16 cr) - It had been obvious DC were going down this route, ever since they decided to stick with Pant as captain for the UAE leg of IPL 2021, despite Shreyas Iyer returning to full fitness. Pant’s last 18 months or so of t20 cricket haven’t been ideal but I think DC have made the correct decision to back a player of Pant’s ability ahead of others. If he can get anywhere close to his 2018 & 19 seaons, their decision will be vindicated, as the level he displayed in those seasons was that of a 20cr player.

Axar Patel (9cr)/12cr deducted - I don’t have a problem with retaining Axar per se, however I’m not sure it should’ve been at the second highest price point. Even though he’s a fanstastic bowler, 9cr is a lot to spend on an orthodox spinner, with limited batting ability in t20’s. If he was going to be retained, it should’ve been at the 6cr spot in my opinion. Have his recent test match performances influenced their decision?

Prithvi Shaw (7.5cr)/8cr deducted - I’m very pleased with this from DC, 7.5cr is also a brilliant deal for a player of Prithvi’s quality. There are very few players around that can match his level of intent, with obvious high quality as well. Something seemed to click with him last season, whether that was mentally or technically, I’m not sure but it led to his highest run scoring IPL season by nearly 130 runs.

Anrich Nortje (6.5cr) - Nortje being retained over other overseas fast bowlers, namely KG Rabada would’ve been unthinakble 2–3 years ago. However, Nortje’ rise as a t20 bowler has been rewarded. After being bizarrely left out in the India leg of IPL 2021, despite a strong IPL 2020, Nortje returned in the UAE and was possilby the best pace bowler and then followed it up with a strong World Cup. 6.5cr for an improving fast bowler, that’s also one of the quickest, sign me up.

Overall rating - 8.5/10

Only downside for me is retaining Axar over Avesh Khan and at a higher price than they should’ve (imo), if they were going to retain him, I would’ve bumped Prithvi and Nortje up a place and gone with Axar at 6cr.

Personally, my first option would’ve been Avesh Khan and if they couldn’t agree a fee then I would’ve gone for Axar. Avesh Khan was available for an uncapped retention (4cr), while it’s unlikely that he’d accept a deal at 4cr, it would’ve been worthwhile trying to agree a deal with him for 6–7 cr before moving on to Axar.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata were a franchise that seemed to have more retention options than most. You could possibly make an agurment for retaining up to 8 or 9 of their squad.

Andre Russell (12cr)/16 cr deducted - A few may look at his recent performances and say he can’t justify such a price tag anymore. It’s Dre Russ though, he’s one of a kind and you have to back him for longer than most. Returning to Eden Gardens, where Russell has an astonishing record will be a welcome boost for KKR. I have no issues with KKR retaining Dre as their first pick and if you gave other teams the option to buy him at auction I’m sure he’d go for 15 cr+. It’s interesiting that they managed to agree a deal for 12 cr, this doesn’t help KKR from a cricketing point of view but as a business it does and highlights the strong relationship between Dre and KKR.

Varun Chakravarthy (8cr)/12cr deducted - Although I’m a massive fan of Varun as a bowler, I’m not sure I’d have retained both him & Narine, Narine’s ability to contriubte with the bat would’ve swayed it towards him. It’s also a gamble as there’s likely to be quite a lot of local spinners available at auction; Chahal, Chahar, Bishnoi, Ashwin & Sundar to name a few, although a couple could be picked up by new franchises.

Venkatesh Iyer (8cr) - In an article I wrote a few weeks ago, I said I’d retain Venkatesh Iyer as an uncapped retention, possilby pushing up to 5–6 cr if needed, however 8cr seems like a lot. It’s a bit of a gamble, based on his limited high level experience and they’re definitely paying for his ‘skillset’, i.e a top order batter than can bowl a bit, though I’m not sure his bowling is anything special currently.

Sunil Narine (6cr) - Even if you think Narine’s ability is fading (it probably has), 6cr is a very respectable deal and once again highlights the relationship KKR has maintained with its key players over the years. Narine is still one of the better t20 spinners around and is equally capable of brief cameo’s with the bat and make no mistake, they can be game changing. KKR’s best bit of business.

Overall rating - 6.5/10

Other options: Lockie Ferguson, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi & Kamlesh Nagarkoti.

At 8cr Shubman Gill, should’ve been a priority over V Iyer and I believe it’s a rare occassion where you have to compeletely disregard data. Just by watching an over of Gill batting, you can see the quality he has, this could turn out to be a mistake by KKR.I’d have also looked to get Rahul Tripathi back as un uncapped retention. 4cr for him would’ve been a brilliant deal, if he agreed to it, a player that typifies the type of cricket Brendon McCullum wants his side to play.

Overall, it’s a bit meh from KKR, 6.5/10 is maybe slightly harsh, however they’ve left themselves a lot to do at auction, needing to recruit 2–3 frontline pacers. Judging by their retentions they’re also planning to go spin heavy again next season, which could be a risk at Eden Gardens.

Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma (16cr) - It is what it is, I don’t think he’s worth 16cr but like Dhoni, this always seemed likely. His performances for MI in recent seasons just haven’t been that good and I’d have preferred to see Bumrah get the top spot.

Jasprit Bumrah (12cr) - Brilliant deal for MI and perhaps another example of player loyalty to a franchise taking centre stage. Bumrah can easily justify a 16cr price tag and would likely earn more than that if he went to auction. I believe he’s the most reliable death overs bowler by a distance and probably the only one you can actualy depend on time and time again. You can’t look at his impact in other phases with just stats either, as a lot of teams will look to play him more cautiously than other bowlers, despite that he still has stats that are well above average in every phase. A T20 superstar.

Suryakumar Yadav (8cr) - Some would possibly say this is an incorrect decision from MI but if there was ever a player that deserved a higher contract it would be SKY. A clutch player for MI in recent seasons, particularly in 2020; averaging 40 and striking at 145, he has made a difficult role look easy at times. Performance and ability wise this retention makes sense, however you could argue there were possibly better otpions.

Kieron Pollard (6cr) - How have they pulled this off? I know they managed to get him for 5.4cr through RTM in 2018, but even at the age of 34, I’d confidently predict if Pollard went to auction he’d for at least 8cr, possibly pushing 10–12. Possibly just another example of player loyalty to a franchise like with Narine & Dre Russ. MI will be glad to get another vital cog in their machine for 6cr.

Overall rating - 7.5/10

Other options: Hardik Pandya & Ishan Kishan

I would’ve chose Hardik over Suryakumar Yadav. His skillset is just far rarer in Indian cricket, plus when he’s fit he gives them a sixth bowling option. Something they’ll need to recruit at auction now, unless they’re planning to use Pollard as that, which would be a huge risk. There are potentially valid reasons for not retaining Hardik; firstly his fitness is a big issue and he’s been unable to bowl for large parts of the last two IPL campaign and secondly if he’s desperate to play with his brother, it isn’t worth the hassle of potentially overpaying to get him, just so they can play together.

A strong argument could be made for also retaining Ishan Kishan ahead of Surya. Kishan is a lot younger, is a LHB and can keep, all of these are added bonus’ but they could give him an edge over Surya. MI’s reasoning for retaining Surya ahead of Kishan was the he’s more versatile, which I don’t necessarily agree with either. When it came to making a final decision, it should’ve come down to which player would’ve gone for more at auction and I’m fairly certain that would’ve been Kishan.

Punjab Kings

There’s no doubt KL Rahul deciding he wanted to leave massively impacted things for Punjab Kings. He would’ve been their banker as a 16cr player and would’ve made other retention decisions easier. As things happened, they’ve only ended up with two players, not the end of the world and perhaps better than potentially retaining players for the sake of it and ending up with a group of overvalued players.

Mayank Agarwal (12cr)/14cr deducted - While I don’t think Mayank is worthy of the highest slot, I can see why Punjab have gone down this route. His t20 numbers have improved dramatically in recent years and he’s certainly been one of the better Indian top order players in IPL. Scoring nearly 1200 runs across the last three seasons, at a strike rate of over 145, as well as being one of the faster scoring players against spin, an impressive package. However, if we’re being realistic he turns 31 in a couple of months, so 9–10cr would’ve been about right in my opinion.

Arshdeep Singh (4cr) - An uncapped retention at 4cr. Arshdeep has done well since his IPL debut for PK. I don’t think he’s anything spectacular but gives them a left arm option and more improtantly a local pace bowling option, which is an area they’ve struggled in before.

Overall - 5/10

Other options - Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Shahrukh Khan & Deepak Hooda.

They could’ve used an uncapped retention of any of the latter three players from the above. I’m assuming they tried and couldn’t agree a deal with any, especially in Bishnoi’s case, however you never know. Rumours were that Bishnoi and Shahrukh didn’t want to continue with the franchise anyway. Deepak Hooda wouldn’t have been an awful option at 4cr, as a players that’s shown improvement in recent Syed Mushtaq Ali seasons, however that’s yet to really translate consistenly to higher levels, as such I wouldn’t have gone beyond 4cr for him, where as for Bishnoi and Shahrukh I would.

Rajasthan Royals

You immediately notice something when you see Rajasthan’s retentions, where is Jofra Archer? Well I’m not sure either, he’d have certainly been amongst mine, unless his injury issues are way worse than we’re being told, I can’t see a reason why you wouldn’t retain him.

Sanju Samson (14cr) - No issues with this, Sanju is one of my favourite local player. His batting has been at a high level for a long time and should’ve warranted more opportunites for India. He’s one of the only batters in India that can boast a strong record against spin, as well as against high pace, making him a strong candidate for a middle order role. For whatever reason it hasn’t quite worked out so far, having just turned 27, he still has plenty of time on his side.

Jos Buttler (10cr) - Often described as a ‘modern day anchor’ but I’m not sure that really does him justice. Buttler is one of the most versatile t20 batters and can pretty much change a game with a click of his fingers, he doesn’t really have any obvious weaknesses as a t20 batter and at 10cr it’s difficult to argue with this retention.

Yashasvi Jaiswal (4cr) - Jaiswal’s noticeable improvements have been pleasing to see. When he first played for RR in 2020, he looked like a bit of a rabbit in the headlights, struggling to get bat on ball at times. Obvious improvements have been made and he utilised powerplay’s brilliantly in IPL 2021, if he can iron out his weakness against high pace, Rajasthan have one heck of a player on their hands.

Overall - 6/10

Other options: Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes & Kartik Tyagi.

I don’t have any particular issues with the players they’ve chosen to retain or prices they’ve retained, however I can’t give it more than a 6/10 when they’ve chosen not to retain Jofra Archer. I just can’t understand it. Some may have forgotten/understimated the impact he’s capable of having in t20’s due to recent injuries but his impact can’t be underestated. You get an elite powerplay bowler, above average death overs bowler and a capable lower order hitter (career boundary percentage of over 17%), all in all he’s close to an ideal t20 package. If a fully fit Archer is intending to play in next season’s IPL, I’m sure he’ll fetch 13–15cr at auction, if not more.

Kartik Tyagi was available as an uncapped retention, which I’m sure RR tried to achieve, however it’s unlikely he’d accept. His skillset isn’t common in India and will likely see him get more than 4cr at auction.

Ben Stokes was never likely to be retained given the calibre of other players available to RR to retain.

Overall RR have manged to retain some good players but they’ve left themselves a lot to do at auction. They need to recruit 20 overs of bowling, which will be a tough ask to achieve, starting from scratch.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Another franchise that had quite a lot of options available to them when it came to retentions so it’s surprising they’ve only ended up retaining three players.

Virat Kohli (15cr) - His recent performances certainly aren’t indicative of a 15cr player. RCB will be hoping a return to the Chinnaswamy stadium, as well as not having the burden of captaincy, will allow Kohli to get somewhere near his t20 best. By hoping I mean has to, that’s the only way they’ll get on-field value for money for their 15cr outlay.

Glenn Maxwell (11cr) - Maybe not quite worth this much but RCB had to do it really, after his stellar performances last season, his price probably would’ve been inflated at auction. I expect this is also part of a plan to load spin hitters around Virat Kohli in a bid to comprise for his weaknesses. Maxwell also gives them a matchup bowler in their top order, which is a vital part of squad construction in my opinion.

Mohammed Siraj (7cr) - 7cr for Siraj is fantastic business from RCB, he was someone I thought they’d potentially have to go upwards of 10cr in order to retain. Siraj’ numbers (wickets) haven’t showcased his improvement in t20’s but his transformation from being a liability to a frontline bowler in key phases is an impressive rise in less than two years. RCB finally have a young-ish local pace option they’ve been looking for, which is a major box ticked for them.

Overall - 7/10

Other options: Washington Sundar, Devdutt Padikkal, Harshal Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal.

Given these four options, I’m not sure why RCB only decided to retain four players. Allegedly it was a possilbe money issue with Harshal, Padikkal and Chaha so that’s fair enough, if not those, then why not Sundar? A player that’s been semi-forgotten about due to his injury but his value shoud be well known; a reliable four over bowler, that’s economical against both LHB’s & RHB’s and someone with untapped batting potential higher up the order. Yes he’s been tried in that position a couple of times by RCB but he’s never been given an extended run. In my opinion Sundar would be well worth 6cr and I’d have pushed up to 8cr in an attempt to retain him.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

When you decide to let go of one of the world’s most valuable t20 assets, in order to retain Kane Williamson as your first pick it’s just abject failure no matter how you look at it. A couple of good uncapped retentions have saved this from being a complete and utter disaster for SRH.

Kane Williamson (14cr) - Retaining Williamson at half of that price would’ve been pricey, let alone 14cr. A genius in test matches but in t20's? He’s barely been an average t20 batter in the past 2–3 years, added to that, he has been having injury issues with his elbow for a sustained period of time. Since his golden season in 2018, Kane has struck at 124 with a boundary percentage of 14% in his last three seasons, I can’t get my head around this decision.

Abdul Samad (4cr) - As much as I disagree with some of their other decisions, SRH have done very well to convince Samad to stay with them for only 4cr. Samad is one of the highest upside batters in India and has an absurd record of striking at above 100 in all three formats. It’s vital for his continued development that SRH use him an a variety of roles and not only as a ‘finisher.’

Umran Malik (4cr) - Life comes at you fast… Umran Malik went to the UAE as a net bowler for SRH and departed having played three IPL matches, as well as being a net bowler for India at the t20 WC, plus an India A call up. A rapid rise and one that SRH feel they need to invest in. In terms of ball speed, he’s one of the quickest in India.

Overall - 4/10

Other options: RASHID KHAN, Jonny Bairstow, Bhuvneshwar Kumar & Abhishek Sharma.

The big one is obviously Rashid Khan. Perhaps the best t20 spinner ever, a key part of their franchise and is still only 23. There are so many benefits to Rashid Khan the t20 player, not least, his availability, he can seemingly play an absurd amount of cricket without getting injured and that in istelf is certainly valuable. Oh and he’s the best t20 leg spinner of all time, plus he can also contribute with the bat. What’s even more frustrating is that Rashid was seemingly willing to stay with SRH, if he was made top pick, which more than deserves, however they decided to give it to Williamson. An unforgivable mistake. Rashid will likely fetch 18–20cr at auction.

Neither of Bairstow or Bhuvneshwar Kumar were retained, this could come as a surprise to some but I’m not sure either can justify at 10cr price tag.

Abhishek Sharma was another option for SRH as an uncapped retention and he is a player I like, however I can see why they’ve gone for a frontline bowler instead.

Finally I’d like to talk about risk, specifically players that have declined opportuinities from their current franchises in pursuit of greater money/better opportunities elsewhere. In some cases, I think we can assume this is a decent sized risk:

Here is a list of players without a franchise, it was just a quick list I made of players that have been involved in recent IPL’s and is still amounts to around120 players and I’ve probably forgotten some. As I mentioned at the beginning of this piece, current franchises have 450.5cr in their combined purses remaining, when you add the two new teams into the picture, there is 630.5cr available to be spent. This sounds like a lot but when you consider that 20–25% will probably be spent on a group of 10–15 core players including; KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, David Warner, Jorfra Archer, Shreyas Iyer, Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill and a few more, added to that you’ll have franchises willing to overpay for players that have done well for them previously; e.g Faf du Plessis, Dinesh Karthik and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to name a few. I also haven’t even considered players that haven’t been really been involved in recent IPL’s, you’re often only one good BBL campaign away from a nice pay day; players like Mitchell Marsh, Josh Inglis & Saqib Mahmood could benefit here. All of this means, I’m not sure there will be as much left in the pot as many think to compete for certain players and some players could be left disappointed went it comes to their overall value.

I might write in more detail about this in a future article and which players from the auction pool that I think are undervalued/overvalued but that’ll do for now!

Thanks for reading!