IPL retentions reviewed: Can CSK afford Rishabh Pant? Will KKR break the bank for marquee signings? Punjab rebuild (yet again) | Cricket News

The Indian Premier League (IPL) retention window ended largely on expected lines. Barring a few names being thrown into the auction pool, the sum that franchises were prepared to pay to keep hold of their prized assets did raise eyebrows. With less than a month to go for the auctions, IPL teams will now go back to the drawing board to build a squad around those who are retained.
Here is a look at how each IPL team looks at the end of the retention period.
Chennai Super Kings: No surprises that they preferred continuity. CSK need a new face for life after MS Dhoni and core group, and Rishabh Pant is up for grabs. But CSK didn’t deviate from their success formula and stuck to what works for them: continuity. Compared to the rest, their retentions – Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, Dhoni — seems weak on paper, but it is one franchise that knows what it is up to. With only Rs 55 crore available, they may struggle to keep up with the bidding for Pant and even if they get him, they need to be smart with their other buys to put a strong squad on paper. Spending Rs 18 crore and Rs 12 crore on Jadeja and Dube seems expensive.
Delhi Capitals: It is a franchise that has seen several players who have been deemed surplus and released into the auction pool go and become big names. Though they desperately tried everything to retain Rishabh Pant he looks set to join the likes of Gautam Gambhir, AB de Villiers, David Warner who all reached great heights with other franchises. Delhi have Rs 73 crores available to build a squad that will complement Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tran Stubbs and Abhishek Porel.
In 2018 they went after big Indian names and in 2022 they went for young talents. What direction they take in 2024 only time will tell. At the auction, they need a core batting group and most importantly, a captain with Shreyas Iyer being a potential target.
Gujarat Titans: From the time they came in, they have been clear cut about their needs and wants. So, Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan – who all perform different roles – have been retained. They also have one Right to Match (RTM) option to use on David Miller or Mohammed Shami. With Rs 69 crore in the bank, GT would feel confident of putting together a strong squad. What has stood out about them is how meticulous they have been in acquiring uncapped Indian talents who will complement the proven overseas players who may not be in the target l of many franchises. So, GT’s first target would be to assemble a strong XI and possibly another X-factor player and build their squad from there.
Kolkata Knight Riders: They lost Rs 69 crore from their auction purse even though they spent only Rs 57 crores to retain six players – the maximum number any team could retain – due to the retention rules. It looks like good business when Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy – three X-factor players are retained – to go with a rare finisher in Rinku Singh and two uncapped players in Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh. With Rs 51 crore remaining, they can afford to break the bank on one or two players and then rely on budget buys. It is a model that has worked for them and who knows if they get Mitchell Starc or Phil Salt, they can still assemble a good squad. With Shreyas Iyer not around, they are in need of a captain – possibly a big Indian name.
Lucknow Super Giants: Apart from Nicholas Pooran and Ravi Bishnoi, Lucknow have taken a huge leap of faith in retaining Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan and Ayush Badoni. With Rs 69 crore and one RTM option available, LSG need to find their core at the auction table including an Indian face who can be the captain. If not, they can always go back to Pooran to lead the side. With three of their retentions in the developmental stage and Mayank being injury prone, they need at least 8 names who can walk into the XI. It is not impossible to get, provided they ration their budget accordingly. If they spend a big sum on a player, then they may struggle to find the balance. A lot needs to be done at the auction table.
Mumbai Indians: Have the strongest retention team on paper and also have the luxury of using one RTM. Their core – all of them Indians – means, Mumbai will head to the auction confident of putting together a title-winning squad. Because they spent huge sums on four of their retentions, they head to the auction with only Rs 45 crore. Going for any other big names could ruin their auction unless they come within their budget. As usual, they will look for an overseas middle-order batsman and a couple of fast bowlers to walk into the XI. And once that is in place, they would rely on their talent scouts to give them the missing pieces in the puzzle. They have missed a quality spinner in the last few years. Having one will make them formidable again.
Punjab Kings: Having retained only a couple of uncapped players, Punjab Kings will head to the auction with a whopping Rs 110.5 crore available, the most for any team. So, getting Rishabh Pant, Jos Buttler, Shreyas Iyer, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Mitchell Starc are not beyond their means. For the nth time, Punjab are in for another overhaul under a new coach in Ricky Ponting. They are without a captain, which means they have to build a squad from scratch. How and where they begin is the key because with a huge sum available, other teams end up hiking the prices to land their targets at a later stage. With four RTMs available, they can use them to buy back Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Arshdeep Singh and Kagiso Rabada.
Rajasthan Royals: Their core of young Indian players who can serve them for long remains intact. That they have spent Rs 14 crore each on Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel – who are maturing into match winners on their own – shows the faith the franchise has on them. And with Shimron Hetmyer also retained, RR have five of their top 7 in place. So at the auction table, with only Rs 41 crore (the least among all) to spend, all they need to do is go after batsmen who can come at a reasonable cost and compliment the top five. But with Sandeep Sharma being the lone seamer retained, whether they manage to get more than a couple of quality fast bowlers – who tend to cost high – remains to be seen. The same with the spinners as well.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Retained Virat Kohli for Rs 21 crore, making him the highest-paid Indian player. That RCB were in for an overhaul was evident as that was the reason they brought Andy Flower and Mo Bobat – two names who were part of England’s domination in the past – to their ranks to get a hang of the franchise. Having cleared all the deadwoods, the challenge for RCB is to put a balanced squad, which they have failed at in the past. With Rs 83 crores available to spend, they have the means. They are in need of a potential captain as well with KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer among their targets alongside Rishabh Pant. Unless they crack the auction code, it would be hard for them to win the title.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: With Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen, Pat Cummins and Nitish Kumar Reddy retained, SRH’s target will be to look for as many Indian names as possible. And then look for three overseas players who can be rotated based on the conditions. Doing that will give them a strong overseas core that has been their biggest strength over the years. They have not spent huge sums on big name Indian players and options for those in the mix. And the story looks set to continue this time as well since they have only Rs 45 crore to spend at the auction, will be looking for budget players and then use the next auction to fill the holes. Have one RTM option to use on T Natarajan or Washington Sundar.