IPL retention: From Indians in demand to leadership options available, deadline day trends | Cricket News

IPL retentions: Thursday saw all 10 Indian Premier League franchises take the first steps towards finding the core of their team for the next few years. The IPL retention deadline forced all the 10 teams to take some hard calls about which players to retain and which to let go into the mega auction.
We sifted through all the happenings to figure out the IPL retention deadline day trends:
Indians in demand
Out of the total retentions, 36 are Indian players with only 10 being overseas players. Apart from big-name Indian players, there are several overseas players including the likes of Jos Buttler, Mitchell Starc, Quinton de Kock up for grabs at the auction.
Leaders available in IPL mega auctions
In KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer there are three Indian names who can also be potential captains for their sides available at the auction. With RCB, PBKS, DC, KKR all looking for an Indian captain, they could be in for a jackpot.
All eyes on bowlers in IPL mega auctions?
The auction could see bowlers walking away with big pay cheques because of the demand. Out of the 46 players retained, 28 are batsmen and 11 of them are all-rounders. So, unless you have Jasprit Bumrah or Matheesha Pathirana – bowlers with a X-factor – teams have preferred to retain only batsmen.
KKR and DC’s retention strategy
Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals have spent less money than the money that will be deducted from their auction purse. The defending champions, despite retaining all 6 players, managed to keep it to Rs 57 crore. But they will have Rs 69 crore deducted from their purse because of the rules. The story is similar with, DC who retained four players.