3 Players each team might retain if mega auction happens in IPL 2021

7. Sunrisers Hyderabad

In recent years, the Sunrisers have been type-casted as a top-heavy only team, and they’d be eager to shed off that reputation in their upcoming lifecycle. That said, the team will still bank on their captain consistent, David Warner, to keep going with this red-hot batting form (1027-runs @ 133.96 from two seasons) at the top-order. He should be their most prioritised retention candidate.

It’s fair to say that in recent years, Afghan spin-bowling sensation, Rashid Khan, has been the leader of SRH’s bowling attack. And given how brilliantly he has fared at that role (50-wickets @ 6.16 rpo), the team should be happy to let him continue that way. He should be easy picking for the second retention slot.

Hyderabad’s final retention spot should be a closely-contested affair among several players. But purely from a team-balance perspective, Manish Pandey should get the nod ahead of everyone else for two strategic reasons. The first one being the assurance he brings into the side as an international middle-order batsman; a rare-commodity that the team should be wise enough to preserve.

Secondly, if Manish does agree to be retained as the team’s third choice, SRH can avail of his services at a much-reduced price from his current pricing at INR 11 crores. It will be interesting to see how both parties approach the situation.

Alternate RTM candidates: Jonny Bairstow, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kane Williamson