Reports | RCB retain Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers as KKR go with Narine and Russell

01/04/2018

As per reports, RCB have quite shockingly decided against retaining Chris Gayle and Yuzvendra Chahal as they have decided to stick with Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and Sarfaraz Khan. KKR, on the other hand, have also taken a bold step of choosing Sunil Narine and Andre Russell over Gautam Gambhir.

With the mega-auction bound to bring upon some major reshuffle in all the squads, IPL franchises are desperate to hold on to their core players so that they get to rebuild the side again in the next three years.

According to ESPNcricinfo, the retention list is already out ahead of the event that is scheduled to take place on Thursday evening. RCB have reportedly retained skipper Virat Kohli, the mercurial AB de Villiers and rookie Sarfaraz Khan ahead of the mega-auction. Khan being an uncapped player will definitely come in without their purse taking a big hit.

Comeback heroes Chennai Super Kings had some obvious options ahead of them and they have tried to stick with them - MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja. However, the decision to leave out Ravichandran Ashwin and Dwayne Bravo remain interesting.

Defending champions Mumbai Indians had some tricky options. Along with skipper Rohit Sharma, the franchise has retained reportedly retained uncapped Krunal Pandya, as they are still mulling over Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya.

While many were expecting Delhi Daredevils to go for a clean slate after yet another disappointing year, the capital city has apparently stuck with Shreyas Iyer, Chris Morris, and Rishabh Pant. KKR have taken another shocking decision in not retaining two-time title-winning skipper Gautam Gambhir as they have reportedly chosen only Sunil Narine and Andre Russell in their retention list.

Sunrisers Hyderabad have been one of the most consistent sides in the league since their inception in 2012 and they have reportedly decided to stick with the ever-significant duo of David Warner and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Though it is hard to believe that the franchise would part ways with the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Rashid Khan, IPL has never ceased to amaze people.

Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab haven’t been very adventurous. While Steven Smith was always the most obvious choices for Rajasthan, Punjab have chosen to finally leave the inconsistent likes of David Miller and Glenn Maxwell in the open market, while going with Axar Patel.

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