The deadline for the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises to submit their list of retained players is just a couple of days away (October 31), and the announcement by respective teams is expected anytime as experts and former players predict the names that the franchises would want to retain.
Considering Rishabh Pant an automatic choice for Delhi Capitals (DC), former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh shared his list of players that DC may retain heading into the auction, which is likely on November 25-26 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“About Delhi Capitals, we have heard a lot of things around whether Rishabh Pant will be retained or not. Only time will tell. But if I were a part of the management, I would definitely retain him,” said Harbhajan in a Star Sports video.
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According to the IPL Player Regulations announced earlier this month, “franchises can retain a total of 6 players from their existing squad. This can be either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) option. It is at the discretion of the IPL franchise to choose their combination for Retentions and RTMs. The 6 retentions/RTMs can have a maximum of 5 capped players (Indian and overseas) and a maximum of 2 uncapped players.”
Harbhajan predicted that DC may not opt for an uncapped player and pick 4 or 5 capped players out of its current roster.
“Pant should be the first retention, followed by Axar Patel, then Tristan Stubbs. The fourth retention, as I see it, should be Jake Fraser-McGurk; and if you want to retain a fifth player, it could be Mitchell Marsh,” said Harbhajan.
Retaining five capped players will make DC’s purse lighter by a minimum Rs 75 crore.
According to the price slabs, first retention costs minimum INR 18 crore, second INR 14 crore, and third INR 11 crore. The price slabs for the fourth and fifth retained players is higher than the third — fixed at a minimum of INR 18 crore and INR 14 crore respectively.
An uncapped player costs a franchise a minimum of INR 4 crore.
“I don’t find any other player they would want to retain,” Harbhajan further said about his list of DC retentions. “So I think Delhi Capitals should retain 4-5 players and pick the remaining squad from the (auction) pool.”
