By Rhea Mathur
In 2018, the Indian Premier League returns for its eleventh season with eight participating franchises. This Twenty20 cricket league has been played since 2007 when it was established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The league’s reigning champions are the Mumbai Indians who emerged victorious in the tenth IPL season after defeating Rising Pune Supergiant. While the auction of players to decide the final line-up will take place on the 27-28th of January, the player retention list has already been revealed to the public.
Surprise retentions
The retention list has created quite a buzz. The retention of famous cricketers like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers was much expected, however, the retention of players like Sarfaraz Khan by the Royal Challengers Bangalore came as more of a surprise. A franchise is permitted to save up to five players from the auction through the Retentions and Right to Match (RTM). For this season, Sunrisers Hyderabad kept their bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar and David Andrew Warner, one of the only two Australian cricketers to be retained.
The Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, the two teams that were banned in 2015 for match-fixing and betting, have returned to the table this year. Unsurprisingly, MS Dhoni, the former Indian captain, has been retained by the Chennai Super Kings. Along with him, Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina, are making a strong comeback for this years championship. Steve Smith, the current Australian captain, has been retained by the Rajasthan Royals as their captain after almost doubling his salary from last year.
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) managed to upset cricket lovers all around the world by retaining only Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, both international players for the West Indies while failing to retain Gautam Gambhir. This came as a shock given that Gautam Gambhir, the opening batsman, has been credited with leading the Knight Riders to victory in 2012 and 2014. The co-owner Shahrukh Khan is said to have made this calculated move due to the shortage of money; the team has now saved fifty-nine crores for auction day.
Reigning champions look for a repeat
The auction day is now much awaited as the Chennai Super Kings is expected to steal Gambhir, reuniting him and MS Dhoni on the same team. Homes XI Punjab chose to hold only one player, Axar Patel, who they claim has been an integral part of their team for years. Meanwhile, the Delhi Daredevils focused on developing the core of their team by choosing two young players, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant. They also kept their South African International player, Chris Morris, an all-rounder who can help the team grow this season. Finally, the reigning champions, the Mumbai Indians, chose to save Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya from the auctions this year, in the belief that their current line-up will help them to win the title again this year.
This IPL season is anticipated to start on the fourth day of April and to last for more than a month. Spectators from all over the world have been waiting with baited breath for this new season, and are speculating on which team will win the esteemed title.
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