IPL 2022: Rating The Franchises On The Basis Of Their Releases And Retentions

The much-anticipated IPL Mega-Auctions 2022 is scheduled to take place on 12 and 13th February 2022 in Bangalore. If reports are to be believed the next edition of the Indian Premier League will commence in April. Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders are likely to square up against each other in the opening encounter in CSK’s home ground.

Ahead of the mega-auctions, all the teams have announced their list of retained and released players. The eight existing franchises have retained a total of 27 players. Of those, 19 are Indians, while 8 players are overseas. The rest of the players will find themselves back into the auction pool.

Some of the retentions by the franchise were pretty much on the expected lines. Though, fans were surprised to see a few teams letting go of some of the veteran cricketers. In this article, we will talk about the players retained and released by the franchises and rate them accordingly.

IPL 2022: Rating The Franchises On The Basis Of Their Releases And Retentions

8. Punjab Kings: 5/10

Punjab Kings sits at the bottom of our list and for obvious reasons. The IPL franchise has been one of the most underperforming teams in the history of the IPL. KL Rahul making his way back into the auctions is a heavy blow for them. For the next edition of the tournament, the franchise has retained only two players i.e., Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh. Both the players have done exceedingly well for the franchise in the last couple of years.

Both are excellent retentions, however, they could have retained the likes of Mohammed Shami and Shahrukh Khan. Both fared well in the last edition of the tournament and it won’t be a bad decision to have them in the team.

7. Sunrisers Hyderabad: 6/10

Sunrisers Hyderabad had an unforgettable outing in the last edition of the tournament. They failed to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2016. David Warner was relieved from the captaincy duties before getting dropped from the team midway during the tournament.

As it turned out, the Australian has now been released by the franchise, which indeed is a massive blow. Warner has been one of the most consistent players in the league and is the highest run-scorer for the franchise.

Finding his replacement won’t be easy for SRH ahead of the next edition. Add to that, SRH also decided to let go of Rashid Khan and Jonny Bairstow. The Englishman gave exceptional starts to the team in whatever opportunities he got in the last couple of years. SRH could have retained him along with Williamson as overseas players. Besides, Jason Holder did a great job for them in the last two years and he wouldn’t have been a bad option either.

6. Rajasthan Royals: 6.5/10

Rajasthan Royals opted to let of world-class players such as Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes. Both are match-winners and huge assets for any team in T20 cricket. However, uncertainty surrounding Jofra Archer’s long-term injury led Rajasthan Royals to not retain him for the next year. However, it’s not clear why the franchise didn’t retain a player like Ben Stokes for the next edition. The English all-rounder recently made his comeback in the ongoing Ashes series in Australia.

For the next edition of the Indian Premier League, Rajasthan Royals have retained the services of Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Jos Buttler. All three are wonderful retentions. Samson has the best outing with the bat last year. Jos Buttler missed the second leg of the IPL 2021 but everyone knows what he can do with the bat. Young Jaiswal will be a player to watch out for. Perhaps, for the fourth option, they could have gone with someone like Ben Stokes. There could be a possibility that Stokes wouldn’t want to be the third or fourth choice retention.

5. Royal Challengers Bangalore: 7/10

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have retained the likes of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj for the IPL 2022. Glenn Maxwell and M Siraj performed admirably in the last edition of the tournament.

Virat Kohli though was far from his best. Having said that, all three are handy picks. In the race between Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj, the latter got the nod. Harshal Patel was the standout bowler for them, picking a record 32 wickets in a single edition of the tournament.

Despite his heroic performances, he wasn’t retained by the franchise. Even more surprising was the exclusion of Yuzvendra Chahal. No bowler has picked wickets more than Chahal for RCB in the history of the IPL. He was the franchise’s premier spinner, however, the franchise opted to let him go.

As per reports, the franchise couldn’t agree on a financial arrangement with the spinner and that is the main reason behind the exclusion. For the fourth slot, they could have picked Devdutt Padikkal also, who has been a consistent run-scorer for them in the last few years.

4. Delhi Capitals: 7/10

Delhi Capitals made some surprising retentions for the next edition. Their first retention, Rishabh Pant (16 crores) was pretty much on the expected lines. He will lead the team this year. However, the management decided to let go of Shreyas Iyer. Till last year, he was the captain of the franchise. Surprisingly, he won’t be part of the franchise in the next edition.

In the fast bowling department, DC have gone with Anrich Nortje (6.5 crores) ahead of Kagiso Rabada and Avesh Khan. Nortje didn’t play a single game in the first leg of IPL 2021. However, his performance in the second half of the tournament and in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 might have forced the management to go with the South African fast bowler.

Another notable retention was Axar Patel in the spin department ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin. Axar Patel has done exceedingly well for Delhi Capitals in the last couple of years but opting him ahead of Ashwin might not be a great call. Also, Delhi has opted to let go of Shikhar Dhawan at the expense of Prithvi Shaw.

Dhawan was the highest run-scorer for two consecutive seasons for the franchise in IPL 2021. But the franchise preferred the explosive Prithvi Shaw ahead of him. Delhi Capitals have made some surprising exclusions ahead of IPL 2022 auction and this could take a toll on their performances in the next edition of the tournament.

3. Chennai Super Kings: 8/10

Chennai Super Kings have retained four players for the next edition of IPL 2021, namely Ravindra Jadeja (16 crores), MS Dhoni (12 crores), Moeen Ali (8 crores), and Ruturaj Gaikwad (6 crores). All four players are handy picks and deserve to be on the retention list.

Gaikwad stole the show this season and will be a player to watch out for in the IPL 2022 edition. Moeen Ali proved out to be an outstanding inclusion this season. He performed admirably with both bat and ball and the management has stuck with him for the overseas slot.

CSK had more options for the overseas picks such as Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, and Sam Curran to name a few. However, the franchise had no option but to let them go for the next edition of the tournament. Overall, they have done reasonably well as far as the player’s retention is concerned.

2. Kolkata Knight Riders: 8.5/10

The four players retained by Kolkata Knight Riders for the IPL 2022 are Andre Russell (12 crores), Varun Chakravarthy (8 crores), Venkatesh Iyer (8 crores), and Sunil Narine (6 crores).  KKR is the only franchise that has retained two overseas players for the next edition.

Veteran KKR players, Ander Russell and Sunil Narine have been retained by the franchise. The two are picked for a total amount of 20 crores. Looking at their skill-set in the shortest format of the game, it’s a wonderful deal.

For the remaining 8 crores, they have managed to retain both Varun Chakravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer. Both the players provide great value to the side and KKR has done a great job in retaining the services of both the players. The franchise, though, was disappointed to not have retained Shubman Gill but there isn’t anything they can do about that.

1. Mumbai Indians: 9.5/10

Amongst all the teams, Mumbai Indians, perhaps, had the most number of match-winners in their team ahead of IPL 2022 auction. It was difficult to retain only four out of them. The franchise, however, did a great job in shortlisting the four picks.

Mumbai Indians retained four world-class players such as Rohit Sharma (16 crores), Jasprit Bumrah (12 crores), Suryakumar Yadav (8 crores), and Kieron Pollard (6 crores). All four have been integral to Mumbai Indians’ success over the years and the franchise have done well to retain their services for the upcoming editions of the tournament.

Perhaps, they would have wanted to pick Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya and Trent Boult as well, however, they had no option but to release him. Mumbai Indians are likely to try their best to bring them back into the team in the IPL 2022 mega auctions.