The most interesting part of the upcoming IPL auction scheduled to take place on 27th and 28th January in Bengaluru is that it will have a maximum number of cricketers to go under the hammer since the inaugural edition. But before the auction day, the retention event is scheduled in which each of the eight IPL teams will have to put forth names of three (maximum) players they want to keep.
Earlier the IPL governing council had announced that every franchise would be able to hold back at least 5 players: maximum of three retentions and minimum of two by the use of the RTM (Right to Match) card.
Salary Caps
The salary cap has also been raised as it’s fixed at INR 80 crore for this year and will increase to INR 82 and 85 crores respectively in 2019 and 2020.
The player retention price guideline for salary cap charged has also been set as INR 33 crore (for 3 players pre-auction), INR 21 crore (for 2 players pre-auction) and INR 12.5 crore (for 1 player retained pre-auction).
Mumbai Indians (MI)
Mumbai Indians’ transformation from constant underdogs to being the most consistent team in the league started after Rohit Sharma was appointed as captain. Their win in 2017 was their third title, the most won by any team in the league’s 10-year history. Jasprit Bumrah and the Hardik Pandya played a significant role in the Mumbai Indians’ win last season.
These are the crucial reasons that MI team management has decided to retain these three ahead of the IPL 2018 auctions.
Paltan, here are the 3⃣ retained champions!@ImRo45, @hardikpandya7 & @Jaspritbumrah93 will continue to entertain you in MI colours. 🙌#CricketMeriJaan #VivoIPLretention pic.twitter.com/ZxRGUwDaiL
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) January 4, 2018
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
Royal Challengers Bangalore also retained three players, where the third name left everybody stunned. Skipper Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers were the straight picks but Sarfraz Khan took the headlines for his unexpected retention.
BREAKING NEWS: The fearless trio of @imVkohli, @ABdeVilliers17 and @sarfankhan97 will continue to stay and slay in the #RCB colours in 2018! #PlayBold pic.twitter.com/V1Z8sPmktf
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) January 4, 2018
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Gautam Gambhir hasn’t retained by Kolkata based franchise, which was the expected call. However, they chose spin wizard Sunil Narine and Andre Russell to serve them in next editions of the IPL.
VIVO #IPLRetention – @KKRiders retain @SunilPNarine74 and @Russell12A #KKR #IPL pic.twitter.com/lvehcf46LP
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) January 4, 2018
