IPL Holds: Astonishing Calls, Tough Negotiations and Unexpected Surplus

Like any other retention year, this season comes with its fair share of surprises and the most striking one is the players retained by Kolkata Knight Riders. Equally astounding are the players dropped by the defending champions: captain Shreyas Iyer, Mitchell Starc, Phil Salt and Venkatesh Iyer, the latter of whom was preferred to Shubman Gill last time. There were other astonishing calls.

Rishabh Pant’s departure from Delhi Capitals is an important outcome of the day. Efforts continued until the last minute, but as reported by Cricbuzz, the wicketkeeper-batsman remained firm in his talks with the franchise owners – GMR and JSW. Negotiations have reached the point of no return. However, there remains a possibility that Pant could still return to Delhi as the Capitals retain a right to match (RTM) that can be exercised against him.

Given the fact that the dynamics of the auction are obviously unpredictable, there is, of course, no certainty about this. Much will depend on the order in which the names come up for auction. If Shreyas Iyer’s name appears before Pant’s name, the chances of this happening are slim. Delhi Capitals are believed to be keen on bringing in the Mumbai batsman and if they spend heavily on him, they may be left with limited funds to buy back Pant.

There was a lot of talk that Chennai Super Kings, one of the favorite teams of most players, would fight hard for Pant. This may happen eventually, but the chances are very low. After spending INR 65 crore on five retentions, the Super Kings are left with just INR 55 crore. It is unlikely that they will be able to afford Pant as there are teams with much higher fees – such as Punjab Kings (INR 110.5 crore), Royal Challengers Bangaluru (INR 83 crore) and Lucknow Supergiants (INR 69 crore) – who are expected to actively pursue the wicketkeeper batter, who is also the captain.

It remains unclear where exactly the talks between Pant and the Delhi Capitals management fell apart. Pant went to Dubai to meet the team owner and even celebrated his birthday there. It is believed that during the discussions he suggested Yuvraj Singh as a mentor, a proposal that was not completely rejected but was kept in cold storage for now.

However, at some point the situation got out of control, especially after Pan’t posted on social networks. There is a feeling in the DC camp that Pant could have received offers from other teams, probably with the promise of a hefty salary. But it is safe to conclude that Pant’s bet will lose to DC. They continue to be interested in him.

Coming back to Knight Rider, there was a surprise surplus of INR 12 crore. Their six deductions will cost the auction budget INR 69 crore, but the actual payout will be only INR 57 crore – INR 13 crore for Rinku Singh, INR 12 crore each for Varun Chakaravarthy, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, and INR 4 crore each for everyone without limitation. Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh. While they won’t be able to spend the surplus at the auction (where they will have only Rs 51 crore), it can be used for other purposes.

Shreyas’ absence is, of course, the main theme. Contrary to the purported narrative, Cricbuzz understands that the management and the player held several rounds of negotiations during which Shreyas is believed to have asked for a huge retention fee, failing which he would like to go to the auction. Franchising CEO Venky Mysore hinted at the conversation in a statement on Thursday.

“Not only did I talk to the six people we retained, but I also participated in conversations with those we were unable to retain. Obviously I’m aware of some of the stories that have been going around. Suffice it to say that we always negotiate with everyone, and most people understand our position. In almost all cases, everyone asks if there is a way to save them, but they also understand why sometimes we can’t. So hopefully our paths are somewhere. Let’s move on again.”

He further emphasized this point: “But it should also be kept in mind that retention is not a one-way street. It’s always something that has to be mutually agreed upon.” KKR actually wanted to make Shreyas the face of the franchise but it didn’t happen. “In an ideal world we would like to bring the whole team back. But the reality is that you cannot, and making such decisions within the parameters provided is definitely difficult,” Mysore said.

Interestingly, it was KKR and their owner Shah Rukh Khan who approached the BCCI with a request to allow only RTM, without deductions. Having retained six players, they enter the auction without a single RTM. They won’t say that much, but they certainly weren’t fans of the new RTM clause that allows a team to raise the bid by any amount after trading stops. Cricbuzz understands that they have even written a letter to the BCCI in this regard.

Another notable development in the retention saga is Mumbai Indians’ call to retain Tilak Varma in place of Ishan Kishan, the Indian wicketkeeper-batsman who was even part of the World Cup squad. A quick glance at the numbers may clarify the choice. While the franchise acquired Ishan for a whopping INR 15.25 crore after a determined and vigorous pursuit at the 2022 auction, Tilak got it for INR 1.7 crore in the same year. Despite a cost difference of over INR 13.5 crore, their performances over the last three seasons have not been much different with Ishan scoring 1192 runs in three seasons (44 innings) while Tilak has reached a similar level with 1156 runs in total in six less innings. (38). Obviously, Tilak turns out to be the stronger player in a head-to-head comparison, especially since Ishan opens while Tilak mostly bats at No. 5.

Mumbai Indians also surprised IPL observers by choosing not to pick a sixth save despite considering players like Nehal Wadehra, Anshul Kamboj, Naman Dhir and even Piyush Chawla. The decision is said to be driven by their desire and need to maintain flexibility in the upcoming auction. MI also announced that Hardik Pandya will remain their captain for the season, ending a lot of speculation on the matter.

Apart from Shreyas, Ishan and Pant, other big names included Jos Buttler, K.L. Rahul, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, David Warner, Mohammed Shami, David Miller, Phil Salt, Mitchell Starc, Venkatesh Iyer, Marcus Stoinis, Quinton de Kock, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneswar Kumar, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, R. Aswin, Glenn Maxwell, Faf du Plessis, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone and Jonny Bairstow among others. As expected by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the auction will not lack star power with INR 641.5 crore to be spent on it.

Total amount of money spent on retention: INR 558.5 Crores

The wallet went to a mega auction:INR 641.5 Crores