From spotlight on uncapped stars to big releases, a look at key takeways from latest IPL retention lists

The surprising retentions and releases by all ten franchises have laid down the foundation for what could be an exciting, fun and record-breaking auction later this year. Let us look at several takeways from the auction:

*Several captaincy options available

With the release of IPL winning skipper Shreyas Iyer from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Rishabh Pant from Delhi Capitals (DC) and KL Rahul from Lucknow Super Giants, three top-class Indian captaincy options are available.

*Auction could be defined by wicketkeepers pulling double/triple duties

The announcement of retention lists have seen many wicketkeeping options being released by their respective franchises, including Pant (from DC), KL (from LSG), Ishan Kishan (from Mumbai Indians) and Jos Buttler (from Rajasthan Royals). With all of them having captaincy experience at various levels, including international cricket in case of Pant, KL and Buttler, several teams could go after them. Their experience and strong records as wicketkeepers and top-order batters, particularly opening except for Pant, will help teams find a captain, wicketkeeper and an opener in just one player and save them plenty of money.

*No English players retained? Could withdrawing/not playing full season be a cause?

No England players have been retained by franchises this team around. Various stars players like Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Harry Brook, Phil Salt, Will Jacks etc have been let go. These players missed out some part of their season due to international commitments, while Harry Brook pulled out due to personal reasons. England batter Jason Roy pulled out of IPL ahead of this season due to personal reasons. These all developments damaged the team balance at times, with several teams dependent on their overseas talent. Has the habit of not honouring contracts and missing matches caused this move? The hammer strikes at auction could answer this question.

*Caribbean power trusted ahead of mega auction

Four of current top West Indies stars, Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine have been retained by their respective franchises. Pooran has dominated the T20 run charts this year, scoring a record-setting 2,251 runs in 68 matches with a century and 15 fifties at a strike rate of 160.90. Hetmyer is one of the best finishers in T20 circuit and Rajasthan Royals trusts in his abilities. Russell (222 runs in nine matches and 19 wickets) and Narine (488 runs and 17 wickets) have also been reaped rewards for their title winning performances last season and their loyalty to KKR brand.

While seven West Indies talents have been released, namely, Shai Hope, Sherfane Rutherford, Kyle Mayers, Shamar Joseph, Romario Shepherd, Alzarri Joseph and Rovman Powell, the four modern-day T20 greats keeping their spots safe with the franchise shows how much trust franchise has in Caribbean power. And who knows, the released names could get brought using right-to-match card or find a new home at a higher price.

*Another setback for Ishan Kishan?

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) placed their trust in Indian core, consisting of skipper Hardik Pandya, former captain Rohit Sharma, pacer Jasprit Bumrah, 360-degree hitter Suryakumar Yadav and young left-hander Tilak Varma. It was expected that Ishan could retain his place, given his youth and experience with the franchise. Aged just 26, he had spent seven seasons with the franchise and did reasonably well.

However, after being brought for Rs 15.25 crores ahead of 2022 season, the price tag seemed to have caught up with Kishan. In next 44 matches for the franchise till the 2024-season-end, Kishan scored 1,192 runs in 43 innings at an average of 28.98, with just seven fifties. While these numbers are not bad, it could be debatable that he did not deliver as per expectations, with 19 scores being below 20. In the 2024 season, he could score just 320 runs at an average of just over 22, with just a fifty to his name.

After being excluded from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) central contract this year after not participating for red-ball cricket, this is another big setback for Kishan, who has not been considered for international cricket despite participating and doing well in red-ball tournaments like Buchi Babu Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Ranji Trophy recently.

*DC era 2.0 on cards?

With wicketkeeper-batter and biggest superstar of the franchise, Pant released from the franchise and looking for a new franchise as per several media reports, Delhi Capitals could be moving to their 2.0 era, placing trust in young, under-the radar names like Axar Patel (235 runs with two fifties and 11 wickets in 2024), Tristan Stubbs (378 runs with three fifties and three wickets), Abhishek Porel (327 runs with two fifties) and Kuldeep Yadav (16 wickets at an average of 23.25) after good performances last year.

Franchise has also released big time stars like David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Anrich Nortje, Prithvi Shaw. Could this be the start of a new era for DC? Only time will tell.

*Shreyas Iyer joins unfortunate list of captains

The IPL winning captain Shreyas Iyer has been let go after winning the title for his franchise KKR this year, their first in a decade and overall third. While many argue his batting stats of 351 runs in 14 innings with two fifties at a strike rate of 146.86 could be a reason behind his release, the other half of the story is that the in-form KKR top-order did not leave the middle-order with much to do. His recurring fitness issues, which caused him to miss 2023 season, also could be a reason.

Irrespective of what the reason could be, one thing is for sure, Iyer is up there with likes of Adam Gilchrist (released by Deccan Chargers in 2011 after title win in 2009, semifinal finish in 2010), David Warner (released by Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of 2022 season despite 2016 title win and multiple playoff finishes) as one of the most unluckiest captains in IPL.

*Strong faith in Indian uncapped/inexperienced stars

The franchises have been extremely bold this time around, opting to release experienced, household Indian/overseas names and placing their trust in several Indian uncapped/inexperienced players.

Out of a total of 46 players retained across all franchises, 36 players are Indian. Out of these, 10 players are uncapped Indians stars. These players are Abhishek Porel, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Shashank Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Yash Dayal.

Also, out of other 24 capped Indians, 13 players have played less than 30 international matches and eight have played 10 or less international games for India. Of these 24 uncapped players, no one has all format experience for India and only two have Test cricket experience, Dhruv Jurel and Rajat Patidar.

Notably, it is Jurel, who has just played international matches for India, who has received the biggest pay hike, going from Rs 20 lakh this season to Rs 14 crores next season.

-End of 'KGF' era for Royal Challengers Bengaluru?

With stars like Faf and Maxwell released, it could spell the end of 'Kohli, Glenn, Faf' (KGF) era for RCB, which lasted from 2022-24. During this phase, they all scored heavily for RCB. Despite a lull in 2022 season, Virat scored 1,721 runs in 45 matches and innings at an average of 44.12, with three centuries and 13 fifties. Skipper Faf also scored 1,636 runs in 45 innings at an average of 38.05, with a strike rate of 146.99 and 15 fifties to his name. Maxwell sits at the third spot with 1,266 runs at an average of 28.77 and a strike rate of over 159, with 12 half-centuries in 50 innings.

The only player that came closer to the trio was Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik, who made 796 runs in 44 matches and 42 innings at an average of 29.48, with three fifties.

If RCB had Virat-AB de Villiers-Chris Gayle in 2010s, KGF dominated the RCB batting numbers in 2020s. When RCB starts rebuilding their side from scratch in the auction, they would have a huge task in hand of finding one or two highly popular, capable and consistent foreign stars to help Virat unleash the carnage in a "Play Bold" avatar.

Also, with the Rajat Patidar being retained for 11 crores, RCB might have made it clear that he could be the next big Indian batter the franchise invests in. His exceptional spin abilities have made a lot of difference for the side. Ever since he was brought by the franchise in 2021 for Rs 20 lakh, Patidar has played 27 matches, scoring 799 runs at an average of 34.73 with a strike rate of 158.84 and having registered a century and seven fifties.

-A complete list of retained players is as follows:

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni

Delhi Capitals: Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Abhishek Porel

Gujarat Titans: Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan

Kolkata Knight Riders: Rinku Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, Ramandeep Singh

Lucknow Super Giants: Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni

Mumbai Indians: Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma

Punjab Kings: Shashank Singh, Prabhsimran Singh

Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson, Yashaswi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Sandeep Sharma

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Travis Head. (ANI)