3 IPL franchises that made a wrong retention move ahead of Mega Auction

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 Mega Auction is closing in. The anticipation has been building, with the eight existing franchises recently announcing their retention choices.

A total of 27 players were retained by the eight teams.

Now, the two new franchises will also get to pick three players each before the Mega Auction.

Each team was allowed four retentions each, with a maximum of two overseas players. Four of the eight franchises used up all their retentions, while others chose to go for a bigger rebuild at the auction.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) retained Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, and Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Mumbai Indians (MI) kept Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, and Kieron Pollard.

Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and Mohammed Siraj were Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB's) retentions.

Delhi Capitals (DC) chose to keep Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Axar Patel, and Anrich Nortje.

Rajasthan Royals (RR) retained Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) opted to retain Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Varun Chakravarthy, and Sunil Narine.

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) retained Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad, and Umran Malik.

Punjab Kings (PBKS) were the only team that could retain just two players, and so they kept hold of Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh.

While many of the retentions were straightforward, some decisions raised eyebrows, with a few being just plain shocking.

Rashid Khan being released by SRH, for example, was unexpected, while KL Rahul not being retained by PBKS was surprising as well.

On that note, let's take a look at 3 IPL teams that made a wrong retention move:

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#1 Punjab Kings

Punjab Kings have just retained Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh. They let go of captain KL Rahul and other big names like Nicholas Pooran.

While it's understood that Rahul requested to be released, their decision not to retain players like Pooran, despite his inability to perform in IPL 2021, can come back to bite them.

This is not the first time that PBKS have gone into a mega auction looking for a complete overhaul of the team. But Pooran and some youngsters like Ravi Bishnoi were the kind of players they would have loved to keep a hold of.

Pooran has a high ceiling when it comes to talent, and is a good hitter in the middle order. He struggled in IPL 2021, but with a proper role defined for him, he can shine and he has shown that in the past for PBKS as well as for the West Indies. The fact that he is the Windies' captain in Kieron Pollard's absence speaks volumes about how highly rated he is.

Bishnoi is a very talented young leg-spinner and has been very difficult to take on. Unless he requested to be released, it is difficult to understand why PBKS would not hold on to a player who will surely fetch big bucks in the auction.

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#2 Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals retained their captain Sanju Samson along with wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler and uncapped opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.

They let go of some gun players like Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes. While Stokes may have been difficult to convince to be the third retention, they should have tried to keep hold of Jofra Archer.

Archer, apart from being one of the best bowlers in all phases of the format, also brings good value as a power-hitter down the order.

While Archer can pose an injury worry (he missed IPL 2021 with injuries), he has shown that when he plays, he can be deadly. In 2020, he was named MVP of the season in the league.

Archer will surely attract big bids and RR may end up lamenting the decision to let him go.

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#3 SunRisers Hyderabad

SRH let go of players like Rashid Khan, Jonny Bairstow, and former captain David Warner, retaining just captain Kane Williamson and the uncapped duo of Abdul Samad and Umran Malik.

That they did not retain Rashid Khan came as a major shock to most people, with the Afghanistan leggie being one of the most highly-rated players in the world in the shortest format of the game.

The wily spinner is one of the most economical bowlers in the world, and when players look to go after him, they mostly end up losing their wicket.

He has a fantastic record in the IPL and it was a baffling move to not make him their first retention, especially with Warner's exit confirmed during the end of IPL 2021 itself.

Rashid Khan allegedly wanted to go into the auction so he could go for a bigger payday.

The SRH CEO, K Shammi, said this about letting Rashid Khan go:

"It's a difficult decision but if a player wants to be in the auction because of the price, we definitely respect his choice. We'll try and match it and see if we can pick him up with the right price at the auction."

SRH also chose to release players like Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jonny Bairstow, who are valuable assets.