Glenn Maxwell remains sole Aussie retention for IPL 2022

Glenn Maxwell is the only Australian to have retained his spot in the Indian Premier League's (IPL) retention window, which ended yesterday.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) decided that Maxwell would be among their retained players, alongside Virat Kohli and Mohammed Siraj.

After a stellar 2021 campaign, RCB retained Maxwell for $2 million, which is down from last year's sum of $2.5m, yet he remains among the top ten highest-paid players in the league.

Maxwell, who has played in the IPL since 2012, is graced with a suite of skills pertinent to the shortest format of the game. Most notably, his career T20 strike rate of 151.06 and average of 27.57, as well as confidence in playing inventive shots, have held him in good stead over the years. He has also previously been named the IPL's Most Valuable Player during the 2014 edition.

But Maxwell's ascension to greatness during the 2021 tournament left the RCB's decision to retain him a no-brainer. Maxwell was the fifth-highest run-scorer in IPL 2021, scoring 513 runs at an average of 42.75 - with six half-centuries. He hit 21 sixes in the tournament and finished with a strike rate of 144.10.

After Virat Kohli relinquished the captaincy at the RCB, Maxwell is also now poised to take another step and lead the side. Former New Zealand player Daniel Vettori, who also led the RCB in 2011-12, said naming Maxwell as captain in 2022 would be a "pretty good stop-gap measure."

"Look, I think Maxwell will be the likely heir to Kohli. He obviously produced [results] in this last year and he was an exceptional player for them. We talked about most teams wanting to find a captain in their retained players," Vettori said speaking to ESPN cricinfo.

Maxwell would certainly not be devoid of experience, on many fronts. Since making his IPL debut in 2012, he has represented three franchises before the RCB - the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), and the Mumbai Indians.

He's also captained the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League (BBL) and remains a seasoned international cricketer for Australia in the white-ball formats - having played 116 ODIs and 79 T20Is.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) conveyed to the IPL teams that they can pick a maximum of four players to be retained for IPL 2022, of which only two can come from overseas.

Josh Hazlewood and David Warner left off the retained players list for IPL 2022

Maxwell's status as the solitary Aussie on the retained players list highlights some notable Australian omissions - in light of their recent T20 form.

At the Chennai Super Kings, Josh Hazlewood was left off the retained player list in favor of Moeen Ali, despite the critical roles he played in both the IPL and T20 World Cup finals. He took 2/29 in the IPL final for the Chennai Super Kings and 3/16 in the T20 World Cup final for Australia and was integral in his team winning both matches.

David Warner, meanwhile, was the player of the tournament in the T20 World Cup, but his form in the preceding IPL 2021 tournament was poor. He was dropped mid-way through the 2021 campaign before the Sunrisers eventually ended their years-long association with Warner.

Warner has played for Sunrisers Hyderabad since 2014 and was appointed captain of the side in 2015.

"Thanks to all of you for your support over the years, up and downs, my family and I can't stress enough how much we appreciated the love and passion you showed towards us and the team. Candice and I truly wish all the fans the very best for the future and hope whoever you wish to support the best," Warner said, commenting on Sunrisers Hyderabad's Instagram post.

Conversely, ahead of IPL 2021, seven Australians were retained by their franchises, including:

Marcus Stoinis (Delhi Capitals, $980,000) Daniel Sams (RCB, $38,000), Pat Cummins (KKR, $3.16m), Chris Lynn (Mumbai Indians $408,000), Andrew Tye (RCB, $204,000), Adam Zampa (RCB, $287,000) and Kane Richardson (RCB, $816,000).

A full suite of Australian stars are still expected to feature in IPL 2022, although their path to the league has been slightly tougher by having to resort to entering the Mega Auction.

The aforementioned names are expected to be sought after in the auction, alongside other possible Australian recruits who featured in last year's auction:

Jhye Richardson (Punjab Kings, $A2.48m), Nathan Coulter-Nile (Mumbai Indians, $A885,000), Steve Smith (Delhi Capitals, A389,000), Riley Meredith (Kings XI Punjab, $1.4 million), Dan Christian (Royal Challengers Bangalore, $850,000), Moises Henriques (Kings XI Punjab, $744,000), Ben Cutting (Kolkata Knight Riders, $133,000).

Next year's edition of the IPL will see the addition of two new franchises - in Ahmedabad and Lucknow - which will increase demand for players and widen the pool of potential (Australian) selections.

The BCCI set a window of November 1-30 for the existing franchises to retain players, while the two new franchises will be given until December 25 to hire three new players.

No official date has been set for the Mega Auction, but it is likely to occur in January.

See the full list of retained players across the IPL ahead of the 2022 season.