On November 30th, all the existing franchises announced the list of retention before IPL 2022 auctions. As expected, there were a few surprises in the decisions of a few franchises. In this article, we take a look at five players whom franchises wanted to retain but could not before IPL 2022 Mega Auction.
Due to various factors, teams might sometimes not be able to retain a few players. While failing to strike an agreement on the wages part is the main reason, a few players are driven by personal ambition to seek opportunities elsewhere. There are also cricketers who are in search of a new team environment to bring out the best in them.
1) KL Rahul
KL Rahul is one of the players whom franchises wanted to retain but could not before the IPL 2022 Mega Auction. Apart from being the best batsman of the franchise for a few years now, KL was also the captain of the Punjab Kings for the last two seasons. However, in both campaigns, PBKS failed to reach the playoffs. The fragile middle-order also did not allow KL to be comfortable at the top. Hence, he might have made the decision to leave the franchise. It is said that he might join the Lucknow franchise for IPL 2022.
2) Rashid Khan
Rashid Khan was strongly associated with Sunrisers Hyderabad for the last few seasons. The Afghan spinner wanted to be his team’s first retention but SRH wanted it to be Kane Williamson. They could not convince him to stay at the franchise. SRH CEO, during the retention event, mentioned that they would try to re-hire the player at the auctions. However, one of the new teams might sign him by then.
3) Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer is also one of the players whom franchises wanted to retain but could not before the IPL 2022 Mega Auction. Despite being the captain of the franchise, Delhi persisted with Rishabh Pant in the second leg of IPL 2021. Since Shreyas has captaincy aspirations, he has left the franchise. DC reportedly wanted to retain him but could not offer captaincy duties to the Mumbai player.
4) Yuzvendra Chahal
For the kind of contributions that he has made, it is understandable that Yuzvendra Chahal had high ambitions for the next season. However, despite wanting to retain him, RCB did not have a chance since Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell were the marquee players. It is said that the parties could not arrive at an agreement. That said, RCB could still try to sign Yuzi at the auctions.
5) Shahrukh Khan
There are a few reports which suggest that Shahrukh Khan was approached by PBKS for retention. Especially after his show in the final of SMAT, Shahrukh’s stocks had skyrocketed. If he was to be retained, he would have blocked just INR 4 crores of the Punjab Kings’ purse. However, the Tamil Nadu man reportedly wanted to enter the auctions and hence, PBKS could not retain him.
