Who will get retained by their franchise in this year’s IPL auction?

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and not reflective of the website as a whole.

IPL trophy

The fever of Indian Premier League (IPL) is about to begin. The auction’s window opens in February and according to the new set of rules and regulations announced by the BCCI on Tuesday, a franchise can retain a maximum of six players.

With withdrawal of Pune Warriors India, we have eight teams fighting for the title in IPL 7. The time of the auction is the most difficult phase for the owners of the teams because it gets really tough to retain just six players and let go others who might be good as well. The other difficulty comes when they retain all the best players which make their purse light during the auction. It has to be a very educated choice which the franchises have to make.

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians

Starting with the defending champions, Mumbai Indians—after winning two tournaments in a row, they would obviously have a tough time discussing about their squad for 2014. The Reliance Industries owned- team is lucky to have legends around it. It is coached by John Wright and Shaun Polloc; Anil Kumble joined the management last year as their mentor.

Young captain of Mumbai Indians (MI), Rohit Sharma had a very good year, in both One Day Internationals and T20. He would be the first choice out of the six players to be retained. His good form began in 2013’s IPL and he maintained it for the rest of the year. Watching Glen Maxwell’s performance in the recent tour of Australia in India, Mumbai Indians wouldn’t want to regret later for losing him. He can bat and bowl as well and can open the innings too if required.

All the West Indians in IPL have always played a crucial role in their respective teams. And we all are aware of the value carried by Keiron Pollard who is an all-rounder. He would surely make the list. The current form of Mitchell Johnson in the ongoing Ashes makes him the most dangerous bowler of the upcoming edition of IPL. And there are the likes of Ambati Rayudu, Pragyan Ohja and many more. Ohja can be included as MI does not have many options for their spin department.

So the five players who can be retained are Rohit Sharma, Glen Maxwell, Keiron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu and Mitchell Johnson.

Chennai Super Kings

Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has looked unchanged in all the seasons. There are only new players added to the squad. It is the only team which has been led by a single captain in all the six seasons of IPL, Mahender Singh Dhoni—the pillar of CSK.

Stephen Fleming has been the most successful coach in the Indian Premier League. He holds the record of two titles and three runners-up position. It might be a good idea for them to experiment a new team for the season instead of continuing the same one. If they choose to continue with the same players then they might struggle during the auction. All the players in CSK are of great value so the management will lose a lot of money in the retention itself.

Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina would be Fleminngs’ obvious choices for retaining.Bravo, Raina and Jadeja being excellent with both bat and bowl and one of the best fielders in IPL. Mike Hussey’s age can come in consideration. The team would want younger players. Mohit Sharma can be trusted bowler so he stands a choice too.

CSK’s choice of five players would be Mahender Singh Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo, Suresh Raina, Ravinder Jadeja and Mohit Sharma.

Delhi Daredevils

Delhi Daredevils

Delhi Daredevils (DD) had a terrible season last year. They might be planning to change the entire squad for 2014 IPL. But they have a reason to relax a bit because now India’s favourite coach, Gary Kristen is going to manage them.

David Warner will be their first choice. His performance in Ashes has been a matured one. His teammate Peter Siddle considers him as one of the players who can succeed Michael Clarke in the future. It would be fair to give India’s forgotten hero, Virender Sehwag, a chance to prove himself. One of the players among Varun Aaron should be retained. Irfan Pathan too stands a chance.

Warner can be used either as an opener or a one-down batsman. He can bowl too. Sehwag is known for destroying the economy of even good bowlers in T20. Pathan is an all-rounder who can be useful for DD.

So DD would count on David Warner, Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan, Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav for retaining process.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders

The Sharukh Khan owned Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) performed well only in the last two seasons where they won the 2012 season. KKR’s skipper, Gautam Gambhir, World No. 1 batsman in T20, Brendon McCullum, and Sunil Narine are the players whom KKR wouldn’t want to lose. The new start Indian bowler Shami Ahmed can be given a chance too.

Brett Lee has been their mentor as well as the bowling coach. It is a little difficult to say if what the team has in store for him ahead of the seventh edition of IPL.

The four players who can be retained by KKR are Gautam Gambhir, Brendon McCullum, Sunil Narine and Shami Ahmed.

Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI Punjab will no more be under Adam Gilchrist. They begin a new phase in the T20 tournament. But they have the advantage of being coached by Darren Lehman, who recently helped the Australians win back the Ashes.

He can retain Ryan Harris who has been a key player for the Australians against the English side. David Hussey is always the saviour for the Kings XI during difficult times. The youngsters, Mandeep Singh and Paul Valthaty have been impressive. So this franchise can choose their players easily.

David Miller who had got a call from his National team following his performance in IPL 6 would surely be considered.

Kings XI Punjab will retain Ryan Harris, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, David Hussey and Paul Valtathy.

Sunrisers Hyderbad

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) team previously who played under the name of Deccan Chargers was usually called the underdogs. With all the potential in the team, they never justified their level. Last year, they were a huge surprise. It was in the semi final where Pollard took away a match which seemed to be in SRH’s hands.

SRH Team has all overseas players who are T20 specialists. For example, Darren Sammy, Dale Steyn, Cameron White and Quinton De Kock, they contribute in making a team strong. Quinton’s recent three centuries against the Indian team justifies his importance. Indians who can be retained are Shikhar Dhawan and Amit Mishra.

Sammy is again an all-rounder; Quinton’s selection can avoid Parthiv Patel’s retention because he can keep wickets too. And more over, he is a better choice when compared to Patel.

The five players who could be retained by the SRH team are Shikhar Dhawan, Dale Steyn, Quinton De Kock and Darren Sammy.

Rajastan Royals

Rajasthan Royals

The Rahul Dravid-led Rajastan Royals reached the finals in 2013 IPL. The final was the last T20 match of both the legends, Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. The youngster Sanju Samson was in the limelight for some amazing performances.

Rajastan Royals would have names of Shane Watson, Kevin Copper, Brad Hodge and Sanju Samson in mind for retention. Other players can be auctioned and gained back. But this list of players cannot be lost.

The five players who could be retained by RR are Shane Watson, Sanju Samson, Brad Hodge and Kevin Cooper.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has Chris Gayle, who will be retained without a doubt. Others who can make the RCB team strong are likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Vinay Kumar and Ravi Rampaul.

Kohli-Villiers combination would prove to be a boon for RCB. Both individuals have been very successful in recent times. Rampaul can play the role of an all-rounder where as Vinay Kumar is a impressive pacer.

Vijay Mallaya has stuck to a single coach right from season-one, Ray Jennings. This South African has been a great help in the rise of RCB.

The players who stand chance to be retained by RCB are Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers, Vinay Kumar and Ravi Rampaul.

Pune Warriors India had players like Ross Taylor, Yuvraj Singh, Steve Smith and Luke Wright. These franchises would be planning to take up any one of these. The auction of IPL 2014 is on 12 February, 2014.

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and not reflective of the website as a whole.