The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is expected to be a different game altogether, with a fresh mega auction set to take place before the competition takes place in April 2018. As a result, some big players will be playing for new teams, but the IPL Governing Council (GC) will give franchises chance of retaining some of their key players.
The franchises will have to be wise in their decision of retaining players as it could also hamper their pocket in the auction.
The IPL GC met on Tuesday (October 24), and have floated the idea of allowing the option of a maximum of retaining three players per team, which will only come to fruition if agreed by the owners of all other IPL teams as well in the IPL workshop next month.
However, it has been learned that there are some teams, who have shown interest in retaining more players while some want less.
An "Indian Express" report suggests that the franchises have been already asked about the number of players they would like to retain. Mumbai Indians wants five, KKR just want one. Rajasthan Royals, who are making a comeback after a two-year suspension, want all the players to be made available in the auction pool.
Besides Royals, CSK were the other team suspended for two years due to their involvement in the 2013 IPL corruption case. One thing is for sure, CSK, if given an option, will retain MS Dhoni, who has always been a huge hit with the fans in Chennai.
CSK and Royals could have the luxury of picking players from the two teams, who replaced them for the last two seasons – Gujarat Lions (GL) and Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS).
With some big players like Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Steve Smith , R Ashwin, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum having featured for GL and RPS, CSK and Royals might be in an advantageous position to grab these players before the auction.
