5 surprising retentions by teams for IPL 2021

All the eight IPL franchises have started the preparations for the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with full force. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has postponed the idea of expanding the marquee league by adding two new teams to next year. Therefore, the 10-team Indian Premier league will see light in IPL 2022 only. This also means that ahead of the IPL 2021, BCCI will organize a mini-auction rather than a mega-auction as the latter will be conducted before adding two new teams only. The franchises were thus saved from the headache of deciding which three players they will retain. Meanwhile, on January 20, all the eight teams submitted their list of retained players to the Indian board. This time they only had to clear their extra baggage to increase their purse for the auction and fill the loopholes in their teams ahead of the new season. While many franchises surprised by releasing some key players, they were some unexpected retentions too by the teams for IPL 2021. 5 surprising retentions by teams for IPL 2021 1. Chris Lynn Chris Lynn. (Photo Source: Twitter) Defending Champions Mumbai Indians boasts of having a most competent squad among all the eight franchises. Mumbai had picked Lynn in the auctions for IPL 2020 at a staggering amount of INR 2 crore after he was released by Kolkata Knight Riders. However, Chris had to warm the bench for the entire tournament held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as MI already has a capable batting line-up. They have a set opening pair of Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma who have done wonders for the team by providing an explosive start. Thus, it was speculated that MI can let go of Australia’s top-order batsman Chris Lynn. However, contrary to the popular belief, Mumbai didn’t release the Australian batter and will continue with him for the 2021 edition too. In 41 IPL matches, the right-hander has 1280 runs at an average of 33.7 and strike-rate of 140.5. Lynn could have bagged a better contract in the IPL auctions, however, it seems that he will have to sit on the bench for one more edition. 2. Mitchell Marsh Mitchell Marsh. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Ahead of IPL 2021, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) fans were in for a surprise as the franchise has decided to retain the Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh. Marsh was picked by the Sunrisers for his base price of INR 2 crore ($281,000 approx) and the Orange Army had huge expectations from the all-rounder to deliver at the pitches of UAE. However, while playing against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in SRH’s first match of IPL 2020, Mitchell had sustained an injury on his right ankle and was ruled out of the whole league. West Indies Jason Holder had replaced the Australian all-rounder in the squad and was impressive with both bat and ball. In 7 matches Holder had perfectly essayed the role of a main bowler and finisher for the 2016-champions by scalping 14 wickets and scoring 66 runs. Thus, it was expected that SRH would prefer Jason Holder ahead of Mitchell Marsh in the playing XI. 3. Suresh Raina Suresh Raina of Chennai Super Kings (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) Chennai Super Kings’ swashbuckling batsman Suresh Raina had stunned the cricket fraternity by pulling out his name from IPL 2020 and boarding the flight back to India from UAE before the start of the league. There were also strong rumours about bad blood between Raina and the Super Kings management. CSK had also removed the name of Suresh Raina from their official website and it was reported that they have canceled the contract of the batsman. However, CSK surprised the fans by retaining Raina for the 2021 edition of the cash-rich league. It is believed that this decision is inspired from the fact that CSK had finished at seventh position on the points table of IPL 2020 and had a torrid run in the tournament. The three-time champions had terribly missed the presence of Raina in their middle batting-order. 4. Lungi Ngidi Lungi Ngidi of Chennai Super Kings. (Photo Source: Twitter) Chennai Super Kings had picked South African pacer Lungi Ngidi at his base price of INR 50 lakhs and the pacer had done exceedingly well for the Yellow Army. However, he had missed the 2019 edition while sustaining an injury and was replaced by Scott Kuggeleijn. The Proteas cricketer was retained by CSK in IPL 2020 too but he had a poor season with the ball. Ngidi had proved to be very expensive in the death overs for the Super Kings and had leaked many runs. He was also dropped from the Playing XI in the middle of the league. In 4 matches, Ngidi could scalp just 9 wickets while conceding 167 runs at an average of 18.55 and economy rate of 10.43. Thus, there were chances that CSK might release him for the next edition, however, the management showed faith in the pacer and decided to continue with him for one more year. 5. Kane Richardson Kane Richardson. (Photo Source: Twitter) Going into season thirteen of the IPL, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had worked on their death bowling by adding the Australian pacer Kane Richardson for a staggering amount of INR 4 crore. However, they were left disappointed when Kane had pulled out his name from the tournament to be with his wife during the birth of their child. RCB had attained the services of Australia’s mainstay spinner Adam Zampa who had a decent run in the tournament. As the franchise was looking forward to making a perfect squad, who could end their long wait of winning their maiden IPL title, it was believed that the pacer might have to end his association with Bangalore. Kane Richardson, who has already played for the Royal Challengers did not have a memorable stint managing just four appearances in which he recorded an economy of 9.71. Meanwhile, Bangalore outfit has decided to continue with the Australian cricketer and give him another chance to prove his capabilities.

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5 surprising retentions by teams for IPL 2021

There were some unexpected retentions too by the teams ahead of IPL 2021.

3. Suresh Raina

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