Chris Gayle's retention for IPL 2018 could be a big call for Royal Challengers Bangalore
Still RCB have the option to get him back through RTM way.
This is a very crucial time period for the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise owners and team management to figure out their retention strategies and layouts for the different situation before the designated deadline. The teams have been asked to submit their list of number of players to be retained for the eleventh edition of the big tournament by January 4, 2018.
One of the most star-studded line-ups of the IPL history, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have some extremely tough choices about saving which of his players for the upcoming edition. It will be a huge dilemma for all the teams to arrive for a possible conclusion as this decision will also be critical for each’s fates in the contest.
As per the guidelines, all the eight franchises including Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals are entitled to retain a maximum of 3 players and they can also retain 2 players more through the Right to Match (RTM) option. Rest all players’ fate would be decided in the biggest auctions in the history of IPL, which is scheduled to take place on January 27-28.
Will RCB think about retaining Chris Gayle?
Considering the line-up of Royal Challengers franchise, they have some of the most experienced and specialist players of the shortest format in their ranks. Captain Virat Kohli has been leading the team from the front with some match-winning performances.
The explosive pair of Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers have added their worth to the fire-packed combination and the young leggie Yuzvendra Chahal has been the wicket-taking bowler for his captain in the recent years. But now RCB have a big query in front of them to answer as they can retain only three out of these four-star performers.
Kohli, de Villiers and Chahal are looking to be the preferred options for retentions, as Gayle’s form and consistency with the bat has dropped to a certain limit. The big-hitting West Indian is not able to make the similar amount of impact in the game which he used to in his early days.
His fitness also plays a huge factor in ignorance from the thoughts of retaining the cricketer who has scored more than 10,000 runs in this format of the game. But this will also be the biggest decision for the franchise of whether to retain him or letting Gayle step out in the auction and still RCB have the option to get him back through RTM way.
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