Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2021
Rajasthan Royals (Image Credit: Twitter)

The planning for the IPL 2022 mega auction has been set in motion for all the franchises after the retention rules were revealed. However, Rajasthan Royals have hinted at which overseas star they might retain – and it’s none other than superstar England all-rounder Ben Stokes.

On Sunday, the Rajasthan Royals twitter handled uploaded a video of Ben Stokes practising in the nets while preparing for the Ashes in Australia – which will be his first international series since taking a break to tend to his mental and physical well being in July.

The Durham all-rounder played in the first game for the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2021 before returning home due to a finger injury.

Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes (Image Credit: Twitter)

The IPL retention rules were confirmed recently: the existing 8 franchises can retain a maximum of four players – with a maximum of 3 Indians and 2 overseas players – while the two new teams can pick three players outside of the auction.

Rajasthan Royals have some big decisions to make in the retention of overseas players – they’d be required to choose between the English trio of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, and Jofra Archer. At the same time, Mustafizur Rahman has also attained brilliant form recently.

Stokes has been with the Rajasthan Royals since the previous mega auction ahead of the 2018 IPL at a price of Rs 12.5 crore. He has scored 604 runs in 31 matches, averaging 23.23 at a strike rate of 130 in addition to picking up 16 wickets.

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BCCI sets Rs 90 crore purse for mega auction

MS Dhoni, IPL T20
MS Dhoni. (Photo: IPL)

The BCCI has increased the total purse value for the 10 IPL franchises to Rs 90 crore for the upcoming mega auction. Two new teams – Lucknow and Ahmedabad – have been added from the next season.

The board has also finalized the policies regarding the purse deductions after the retentions.

If a team retains four players, Rs 42 crore will be cut from the total 90 crore purse. Rs 33 crore will be decreased for three retentions, while two retentions will lead to deductions of Rs 24 crore, and if a team chooses to retain only one player, it will lose Rs 14 crore from its purse. Each uncapped player retained will cost Rs 4 crore.

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