The IPL Mega auctions are set to take place in Bengaluru on February 12th and 13th. As many as 33 players were retained by the 10 franchises with the likes of Defending Champions- Chennai Super Kings and Runners-up Kolkata Knight Riders opting for 4 retentions each. Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians too have exercised 4 retentions. Punjab Kings have 2 retentions while the remaining 3 franchises have gone in with 3 retentions. Even the newly formed teams of Lucknow Super Giants and Team Ahmedabad have named 3 recruitments each.
Chennai Super Kings: The defending champions have gone in with 4 retentions namely Ravindra Jadeja, Ms Dhoni, Moeen Ali and Rituraj Gaikwad. Jadeja has bagged the highest salary cap of Rs 16 crores followed by Dhoni who will get 12 crores. Mooen Ali goes in for Rs 8 crores and Ruturaj Gaikwad goes for Rs 6 crores.
Kolkata Knight Riders: The Knights have retained Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Varun Chakravarty and Sunil Narine. Russell will bag the highest salary cap of Rs 12 crores. Varun and Venkatesh goes for Rs 8 crores whereas Narine has taken a salary cut of Rs 6 crores.
Delhi Capitals: The Delhi Capitals have retained skipper Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Axar Patel and Anrich Nortje as the fab 4. Pant will earn the highest salary of Rs 16 crores. Axar Patel bags Rs 9 crores whereas Prithvi Shaw and Nortje goes for Rs 7.5 crores and Rs 6.5 crores respectively.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: The Royal Challengers Bangalore go in with 3 retentions in the form of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammad Siraj. Kohli will take a salary cut and will earn Rs 15 crores. Maxwell will earn Rs 11 crores followed by Siraj who goes for Rs 7 crores.
Mumbai Indians: The 5 time IPL champions have retained Skipper Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah among the Indian contingent. West Indies captain Kieron Pollard too find his name among the list of players retained. Rohit will Rs 16 crores. Bumrah will bag Rs 12 crores whereas Surya and Pollard goes in with Rs 8 crores and Rs 6 crores respectively.
Punjab Kings: The Punjab Kings enters the auction with the highest kitty of Rs 72 crores. They have retained Mayank Agarwal and youngster Arshdeep Singh for Rs 12 crores and 4 crores respectively.
Rajasthan Royals: The Royals have exercised 3 retentions and those 3 retentions happen to be their top 3. The Royals go in with Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, and Yashasvi Jaiswal with Samson earning Rs 14 crores. Buttler will earn Rs 10 crores and Jaiswal Rs 4 crores.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: The 8th placed Sunrisers go in with Kane Williamson and uncapped Abdul Samad and Umran Malik as their 3 retentions with Kane going for Rs 14 crores. Samad and Umran will earn Rs 4 crores each.
Lucknow Super Giants: Lucknow have roped in KL Rahul and all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and Indian leggie Ravi Bishnoi ahead of the mega auction. KL Rahul was drafted for Rs 17 crores, while Stoinis cost Rs 9.2 crores, and Bishnoi was picked for Rs 4 crores.
Team Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad based franchisevhas roped in Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill as three draft picks. Hardik has been purchased for Rs 15 crores, while Rashid Khan too was picked for the same amount. Gill goes in for Rs 8 crores.
The purse of the remaining teams are:
Punjab Kings: ₹72 Crore.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: ₹68 Crore. Rajasthan Royals: ₹62 Crore.
Lucknow: ₹59.8 Crore.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: ₹57 Crore.
Ahmedabad: ₹52 Crore.
Chennai Super Kings: ₹48 Crore.
Kolkata Knight Riders: ₹ 48 Crore. Mumbai Indians: ₹48 Crore.
Delhi Capitals: ₹47.5 Crore.
With already a set of players in place, and rest at the auction table, the 10 teams will be locking horns at the auction table on February 12th and 13th to find out which formation suits them the best.
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