The defending Indian Premier League (IPL) winners Chennai Super Kings have opted to keep their talismanic skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the next three seasons of the T20 league, ahead of the blockbuster auction in January 2022. Apart from Dhoni, the franchise has retained all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, both of whom played key roles in CSK’s IPL title triumph in 2021. According to BCCI rules, each club can keep a maximum of four players, and the four-time champions are in talks to bring England all-rounder Moeen Ali on board.
Ali may be beneficial on the slow and turning track at Chennai’s Chepauk Stadium, but if he refuses to stay, CSK would keep another England cricketer, Sam Curran, as their fourth player, according to an Indian Express report.
Notably, franchises must submit their retained player lists by November 30, following which there will be a major auction with two new teams joining the league for the 2022 season. Meanwhile, wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, all-rounder Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, and bowler Anrich Nortje have been retained by the Delhi Capitals. According to reports, Shreyas Iyer wanted to lead DC, but the franchise wanted Pant to lead them moving forward, therefore the right-handed batter decided to leave.
The Mumbai Indians are also expected to keep Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ishan Kishan, and are in talks with their West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard.
The IPL will expand to ten teams in 2022, and two new teams, Sanjiv Goenka’s RPSG group and CVC Capitals have approached a number of famous Indian players. KL Rahul, the India opener, has left Punjab Kings and is expected to captain the new Lucknow club.
Meanwhile, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, as well as mystery spinner Varun Chakravarty, are expected to stay with the Kolkata Knight Riders. They are still debating whether or not to keep Shubman Gill or Venkatesh Iyer.
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