IPL Retention 2019: Ranking the teams based on retained players

Auctions in IPL are said to be the place where half the battle is won. The trading window is the pre-battle preparation for the teams. The eight teams have retained some of the key players, traded some and have released the rest of underperforming players.

This does not mean that the teams are evenly placed currently. The teams head to the auction with their own set of strategies and chinks in their armour. Here is an effort to rank the teams on how they stand before the auctions based on their composition and balance.

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#8 Kings XI Punjab

Trading Marcus Stoinis for Mandeep Singh is a major blunder

The team management of KXIP has been revamped, with Mike Hesson coming in as head coach and Virender Sehwag resigning from his role as mentor. However, there has been no major improvement on the front of strategies.

Their squad already boasts of quality Indian batsmen like KL Rahul, Karun Nair, and Mayank Agarwal. They also have Chris Gayle to open the innings. In this case, their only trade of Mandeep Singh for Marcus Stoinis does not call for merit.

KXIP already had a quality middle order player in Manoj Tiwary who has proved to be a pressure soaking batsman, unlike the inexperienced Mandeep Singh whom they brought from RCB. Losing an Aussie all-rounder for an inexperienced domestic player does not fit into the scheme of KXI composition.

The team is still searching for balance and might be heading the RCB way of previous seasons. Kings XI should soon search for quality all-rounders to have any chances for a playoff berth this season.

Retained: Lokesh Rahul, Chris Gayle, Andrew Tye, Mayank Agarwal, Ankit Rajpoot, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Karun Nair, David Miller, and Ravichandran Ashwin

Released: Aaron Finch, Axar Patel, Mohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Barinder Sran, Ben Dwarshuis, Manoj Tiwary, Akshdeep Nath, Pardeep Sahu, Mayank Dagar and Manzoor Dar

Traded: Marcus Stoinis for Mandeep Singh

Salary cap available: 36.20 cr

Available slots: 15; Indian 11, Overseas 4

#7 Delhi Daredevils

Delhi Daredevils have had a dismal record in the IPL. The move to trade Shikhar Dhawan with three quality Indian players looks like an effort to make the upcoming season count. Local boy Dhawan might be a better option than the under-cooked Shreyas Iyer to lead the side. Even with Dhawan around in the team, they still seem to lack an experienced leader. At the moment, the team is still looking unsure about its leadership options.

Trading an Indian all-rounder (Vijay Shankar), a left-arm spinner (Shahbaz Nadeem) and a budding batsman (Abhishek Sharma) for Dhawan might not have been a wise option, but only the performances will answer the trade.

The release of under-performing stars like Gautam Gambhir, Glenn Maxwell, and Mohammed Shami has freed their purse. They have a good pack of fast bowlers with the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult, and Chris Morris. The tried and tested Amit Mishra and rookie mystery spinner Sandeep Lamichhane make up the spin department. They need quality middle order batsman to hold the batting together.

Retained: Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Rahul Tewatia, Jayant Yadav, Manjot Kalra, Colin Munro, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Sandeep Lamichhane, Trent Boult

Released: Gautam Gambhir, Jason Roy, Junior Dala, Liam Plunkett, Mohammed Shami, Sayan Ghosh, Daniel Christian, Glenn Maxwell, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Naman Ojha

Traded: Shikhar Dhawan from SRH for Abhishek Sharma, Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem

Salary cap available: 25.50 cr

Available slots: 10; Indian 7, Overseas 3

#6 Kolkata Knight Riders

KKR's X-factor players Chris Lynn and Andre Russell didn't perform as expected in 2018. They have a quality Indian contingent with a good mix of youth and experience. But the team lacks bench strength if star players are injured or out-of-form and they need quality players to replace them.

Also, the fast bowling is young and talented but inexperienced. They need to find a good replacement for Starc. Andre Russell is prone to injury and Sunil Narine is still not his previous best. The bowling department looks incomplete and lacks a leader. The team was inactive in the entire trading window, but have made some right moves by releasing underperforming players ahead of the auctions.

Retained: Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Kamlesh Nagarkoti

Released: Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Tom Curran, Cameron Delport, Ishank Jaggi, Vinay Kumar, Apoorv Wankhade, Javon Searles

Salary cap available: 15.20 cr

Available slots: 12; Indian 7, Overseas 5 5

#5 Chennai Super Kings

CSK has been the least active among all the teams in the trading window. The team which was subject to trolls regarding the average age of their squad has more or less retained all of them.

The team could have released under-performing players like Murali Vijay, KM Asif, and Harbhajan Singh. This could have freed up another 4.4 crores for CSK. With the remaining purse of 8.4 crores, they could have brought a quality bench strength bowler or top order batsmen.

Ambati Rayudu and a resurgent Ravindra Jadeja are few of the in-form players in the squad. It will be difficult to emulate last season’s performance if the old guns don’t step up. Though the team management of CSK believes in continuity and stability, this time around, the strategy could backfire.

Retained: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, M Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Billings, Mitchell Santner, David Willey, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Karn Sharma, Dhruv Shorey, N Jagadeesan, Shardul Thakur, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi

Released: Mark Wood, Kanishk Seth, Kshitiz Sharma

Salary cap available: 8.40 cr

Available slots: 2; Indian 2, Overseas 0

#4 Royal Challengers Bangalore

The RCB management finally seems to have got their strategy together. The intentions are clear that the team lacks quality Indian players who can take up responsibilities, which puts too much pressure on Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers.

Moeen Ali and Marcus Stoinis batting around them will give them some stability. They seem to address this first by releasing underperforming players like Brendon McCullum, Chris Woakes, Corey Anderson, Sarfraz Khan, and Aniket Chowdhry. This will help ease up the purse for the upcoming auctions.

The team has retained a formidable core and with a sizeable purse available. They can pull the strings for impact players like Carlos Brathwaite and Jonny Bairstow.

The trade of Mandeep Singh for an Aussie all-rounder in Stoinis who is in form is a steal for RCB.

Retained: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Parthiv Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Pawan Negi, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Moeen Ali, Mohammed Siraj, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kulwant Khejroliya,

Released: Brendon McCullum, Corey Anderson, Quinton de Kock, Mandeep Singh, Chris Woakes, Sarfraz Khan

Traded: Mandeep Singh for Marcus Stoinis

Salary cap available: 18.15 cr

Available slots: 10; Indian 8, Overseas 2

#3 Rajasthan Royals

RR is another team which has a good mix of Indian and foreign players. Unlike RCB who depend heavily on Kohli and De Villiers, Rajasthan has players who can win matches on their own.

The return of Steve Smith provides them with further stability. It was a good move by RR to release Jaydev Unadkat, which has freed up their purse immensely. They could have released a few more players like Stuart Binny and retained Heinrich Klassen who is a proved finisher and a tidy wicketkeeper.

The release has left them with the purse which will help them in getting an Indian fast bowler to partner Jofra Archer and Dhawal Kulkarni and a backup Indian spinner for Shreyas Gopal.

Retained: Ajinkya Rahane, Krishnappa Gowtham, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Gopal, Aryaman Birla, S. Midhun, Prashant Chopra, Stuart Binny, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Ish Sodhi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mahipal Lomror.

Released: D'Arcy Short, Ben Laughlin, Heinrich Klaasen, Dane Paterson, Zahir Khan, Dushmantha Chameera, Jaydev Unadkat, Anureet Singh, Ankit Sharma, Jatin Saxena.

Salary cap available: 20.95cr

Available slots: 9; Indian 6, Overseas 3

#2 Mumbai Indians

The trade of Quinton De Kock for 2.2 crores can be the season changing trade for MI

The all-rounders have been the strength of MI over the years. They have retained their core with multi-skill Indian players Krunal and Hardik.

The trade of Quinton de Kock is an excellent move and he can now partner Rohit Sharma at the top of the batting order. It could be a season-changing trade for MI for a mere 2.2 crores. With speculations that the next edition of IPL will be played in South Africa, this trade couldn't have come at a better time.

On the other hand, Kieron Pollard’s bowling has waned off from over the years and he is not consistent with the bat. They could have released him and looked for an in-form foreign all-rounder or batsman to strengthen their middle order like Carlos Brathwaite.

The fast bowling contingent hasn’t supported Jasprit Bumrah in the last season. The release of Mustafizur Rahman has given them an opportunity to fill in the gaps.

Retained: Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Mayank Markande, Rahul Chahar, Anukul Roy, Siddhesh Lad, Aditya Tare, Evin Lewis, Kieron Pollard, Ben Cutting, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Jason Behrendorff.

Released: Saurabh Tiwary, Pradeep Sangwan, Mohsin Khan, MD Nidheesh, Sharad Lumba, Tajinder Singh Dhillon, JP Duminy, Pat Cummins, Mustafizur Rahman, Akila Dananjaya.

Traded: Quinton de Kock from RCB (all money trade)

Salary cap available: 11.15 cr

Available slots: 7; Indian 6, Overseas 1

#1 Sunrisers Hyderabad

SRH will benefit from the return of David Warner

The SRH's bowling core is retained with good performing Indian players like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma, and Siddarth Kaul. The spin department involving Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Shakib al Hasan has been further strengthened with the inclusion of Shahbaz Nadeem. The bowling department looks complete and competent.

The trade of three quality Indian players (Abhishek Sharma, Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem) for a Dhawan was a smart move. and the return of David Warner gives them the batting strength. In addition, Kane Williamson proved to be a perfect replacement both as a batsman and a leader in the latter’s stead.

The team still lacks a quality wicketkeeper and an opening partner for David Warner and also a fast bowling all-rounder. Otherwise, SRH looks the most solid team with a good mix of Indian and foreign talent even before the auctions. Still left with 9.7 crores in their kitty, the team seems to be already in the reckoning for another successful season.

Retained: Basil Thampi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Hooda, Manish Pandey, T Natarajan, Ricky Bhui, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, Shreevats Goswami (wk), Khaleel Ahmed, Yusuf Pathan, Billy Stanlake, David Warner, Kane Williamson, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Shakib Al Hasan

Released: Sachin Baby, Tanmay Agarwal, Wriddhiman Saha, Chris Jordan, Carlos Brathwaite, Alex Hales, Bipul Sharma, Mehdi Hasan

Traded: Shikhar Dhawan to Delhi Daredevils for Abhishek Sharma, Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem

Salary cap available: 9.70 cr

Available slots: 5; Indian 3, Overseas 2