IPL 4: Dravid, Ganguly, Gambhir up for grabs

New Delhi: The players' retention deadline that ended on Wednesday night threw few surprises as many iconic players for various franchisees in the first three seasons were left to go under the hammer. Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir are among the top players not retained by their franchise. In fact, Delhi Daredevils only held back Virender Sehwag for the next three seasons, while Kings XI Punjab, along with Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders did not retain any player of their current squads.With a maximum of three Indians players out of four allowed to be retained by every franchise, the Mumbai Indians, as expected, retained Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh in Indian players, while they clang to big- hitting Kieron Pollard and Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga in foreign players. The Chennai Super Kings also retained four players. The 2010 IPL champions once again showed their faith in MS Dhoni, their skipper for the last three seasons, along with two most improved cricketers for the national side - Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay. The Stephen Fleming-coached side also kept South African all-rounder Albie Morkel with them. But while doing so, both Mumbai and Chennai had already spent half of the $ 9 million salary cap available to teams for the players' auction. According to rules set for the next season, the four retained players will be valued at $ 1.8 million for the first player, $ 1.3 million for the second, $ 900,000 for the third and $ 500,000 for the fourth. The most interesting retention came from Royal Challengers Bangalore, where only Virat Kohli was retained. It also means that now team's mainstays like Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble will be available for the January auction. Punjab's decision to release all their players was expected following their dismal 2010 season, which means Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Brett Lee will go under the hammer. Rajasthan Royals, who breathed a sigh of relief after an independent arbitrator stayed the BCCI's decision to expel the team, had clung to their Australian skipper Shane Warne and all-rounder Shane Watson. So the swashbuckling Yusuf Pathan will be up for grab in the players' auction.

Share: