On November 30th, all eight existing teams of the Indian Premier League announced the list of retentions before IPL 2022 auctions. The decision before a mega auction is very crucial for the success of a franchise. At times, teams tend to make a wrong move in this stage. In the past, we have been witness to many examples wherein these mistakes have come back to haunt the teams. In this article, we take a look at five retention mistakes by franchises ahead of IPL 2022 Mega Auctions.
1) Sunrisers Hyderabad not retaining Rashid Khan
Sunrisers Hyderabad not keeping hold of Rashid Khan is one of the retention mistakes by franchises ahead of IPL 2022 Mega Auctions. As per reports, the Afghan wanted to be given the first preference of retention, but the franchise had reserved it for Kane Williamson. Hence, SRH has parted ways with the Afghan talisman.
Rashid has been in IPL only since 2017, but he is already SRH’s second-highest wicket-taker with 93 scalps from 76 games. Whenever he came on to bowl, a wicket was around the corner. Arguably the best spinner in the format on the planet, releasing Rashid is a massive mistake by SRH.
2) Mumbai Indians picking Suryakumar Yadav as the third Indian
Mumbai Indians had a few names on who they can retain for the position of the third Indian player. Back in 2018, the five-time champions had retained Hardik Pandya. Now, they have retained the services of local lad Suryakumar Yadav.
Yes, SKY is an impact player, but Ishan Kishan offers more to the team. Apart from being a fearless batsman, Ishan is a left-hander and a wicket-keeper. A quality domestic keeper is essential to constructing an IPL XI. Moreover, Ishan could have been a fine captaincy option for MI in future. Yet, Mumbai has decided to release him.
3) Punjab Kings retaining Mayank Agarwal as the sole capped player
With the preferred option KL Rahul expressing his desire to leave, Punjab Kings has retained Mayank Agarwal. Mayank is a terrific player, but he can be inconsistent. It is only recently that he started doing well in IPL.
Moreover, it is unlikely that he would have gone above INR 10 crores at the auction. Hence, it is surprising that Punjab has retained the opener. They could have tried targeting him at the auctions.
4) Punjab Kings releasing Ravi Bishnoi
Suddenly, there is a dearth of quality leg-spinners in the Indian circuit. The likes of Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla have hardly had game time while Yuzvendra Chahal and Rahul Chahar are out of form. Although uncapped, Ravi Bishnoi is a class leggie, and Punjab has missed a trick by not retaining him.
Skill-wise, too, Ravi is a great asset considering he has a lot of variations. He is a fast leg-spinner, and such players have had a better impact on T20 encounters in recent years. Moreover, PBKS could have retained him at INR 4 crore, a sum that he is likely to breach at the auctions.
5) Rajasthan Royals not retaining Jofra Archer
Jofra Archer missed IPL 2021 due to an injury. Considering he has been injury-prone, he would definitely manage his workload. Unless he communicated that he would altogether not play in the IPL, it is difficult to imagine why Rajasthan Royals failed to retain the English pacer.
Jofra is a generational talent and can turn games around with the ball. He has also done it previously for RR. Jofra also adds power-hitting to the lower order. Hence, releasing him is one of the retention mistakes by franchises ahead of IPL 2022 Mega Auctions.
