With the IPL 2022 season fast approaching, it’s only fair that we as fans begin our pre-season preparations for the mega-tournament that lies ahead. The auction- rather the mega-auction next year- for one thing, will be a major point of interest among fans. The addition of the new Ahmedabad and Lucknow franchises has, in a lot of ways, put a spanner on the auction strategies of several teams.
A few days back, for instance, we covered five big names who might miss out on being retained by their incumbent franchises, and command a whole lot more money in the upcoming auction. So for this list, we’ve gone with the polar opposite of the aforementioned topic, and here we will be looking at 5 players who will be sure-shot retentions by their respective franchises ahead of the upcoming mega auction.
1. Virat Kohli
The current skipper of the Indian cricket team and the Royal Challengers Bangalore unsurprisingly picks himself as the first name on this list. We won’t spend a lot of time as to why Virat should be a locked in retention player next year for RCB; his stellar record as a batsman makes quite a strong case in that regard.
However, something interesting that awaits RCB fans next year is that Virat will not be leading the #playboldarmy next season; meaning that the team will almost certainly bid aggressively for a new captain. But will that affect Virat’s chances of being retained by RCB next year? We’ll let you figure that out by yourselves.
2. Rohit Sharma
From the captain of the Indian team, the discussion now shifts to Rohit Sharma, the incumbent vice-captain. In recent seasons, Rohit hasn’t really been able to live up to his stellar international reputation as a white-ball opener in the IPL.
Having said that, his calm and measured on-field captaincy still establishes him as one of- if not the most- astute cricketing brains to be featuring in the tournament. Mumbai Indians should be mighty pleased with the five trophies he has led them to up-until now; which should make the topic of his retention a virtual no-brainer.
3. Jasprit Bumrah
Up next on the list is Rohit Sharma’s fellow Mumbai Indians teammate, Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah has been a major driving force behind Mumbai’s stellar IPL performances between the 2018-2022 cycle. His ability to pick up key wickets at any stage of the innings makes him the trump card for the MI paltan and his captain.
What will be interesting to see, however, is whether MI will consider giving Bumrah a higher-paying retention spot ahead of Rohit. At 28-years of age, Bumrah clearly has a lot more left to offer Mumbai than his 34-year-old skipper. The dilemma should make for an interesting pre-season auction dynamic.
4. Ravindra Jadeja
It’s hardly a surprise that the players being covered on this list also happen to be marquee team India players, who’ve had the greatest impact on the team’s performances. And when it comes to making an impact, only a few players have been able to replicate what Ravindra Jadeja has been doing for the Chennai Super Kings over the last couple of years.
Jaddu’s prowess as a quality all-rounder has won the men-in-yellow some crunch situation matches; be it through his flamboyant finishing skills with the bat in the death overs, or his ability to provide four-overs of left-arm spin on a regular basis. In fact, with MS Dhoni’s future with CSK as a player looking uncertain, Sir Jadeja has a good chance of getting promoted to the team’s captaincy position. So it seems very likely that Chennai will keep him around for the next auction.
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5. Rishabh Pant
We did have some choices while selecting a wicket-keeper captain who could be retained ahead of the next season. But ultimately, we decided to go with Rishabh Pant as the player who is the most likely candidate to be retained by his franchise next year. The Delhi Capitals have clearly made a long-term investment in Rishabh as their marquee Indian player.
But what really earmarks Rishabh as almost indispensable to the DC franchise is the fact that the team opted to stick with him as captain even after Shreyas Iyer- their captain from last year- made a comeback from injury. Such a strong level of confidence- combined with the fact that Pant also represents Delhi in the non-IPL domestic circuit- makes 24-year old one of the frontrunners be retained next season.
