IPL 2014 player retention: Contrasting team strategies and intriguing mentalities on offer

Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians' fifer

Two of the most star-studded sides of the Indian Premier League in the last six years made full use of the player retention policy and retained five players each.

Chennai Super Kings held on to MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo. While Dhoni and Raina have been two of the best match winners in the tournament, Ashwin has been a consistent wicket-taker for the franchise with 64 wickets from 67 matches to his name in six seasons so far. Jadeja and Bravo's role as all-rounders have been well documented in the last six seasons, with the former having 1,105 runs and 39 wickets to his name and the latter bagged an astonishing 32 wickets in the 2013 season to earn the purple cap. Chennai have forgone Rs. 39 crores out of their Rs. 60 crore budget, but have managed to retain the core of their side that has been the most consistent over the past few years.

Right to match: Chennai could be in a fix with respect to 'right to match'. The current rules allow them to use the 'joker' card on one of their players from the 2013 squad and one would think they would want to reclaim the services of either Subramaniam Badrinath or Murali Vijay, but with four capped players already retained, they will have to make the highest bid and not just match it to get back either of the two.

The decision makers on the Mumbai Indians' table would have struggled with a problem of plenty but they eventually zeroed in on five familiar names-Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Ambati Rayudu. While many expected them to retain five players, the combination does pose some questions. Why go with Harbhajan Singh who has been woefully out of form? Why not pick Mitchell Johnson who was instrumental in the 2013 edition? Why Rayudu over the ever-impressive Dinesh Karthik?

While it is true that Harbhajan has not been among the wickets in the domestic season, one cannot discount the fact that he has picked up wickets for the Mumbai franchise. 78 wickets in 82 matches, with 24 of them coming in the previous season must have added weight to the decision of retaining him. The bigger dilemma would have been posed by Malinga and Johnson, with the latter striking menacing form and carrying it forward to even play the pivotal role in Australia's 5-0 Ashes win. Mumbai, however, opted for reputation over form and retained Malinga who has 103 wickets in 73 games and has been one of the best death bowlers in the T20 format. West Indian Kieron Pollard has blown hot and cold in previous seasons but the day his wields his willow with confidence and success, no total seems too huge.

Right to match: It is likely that Mumbai will look to reclaim Johnson via this option as the Australian pacer picked up 24 wickets -- 4 more than Malinga-in the 2013 season. However, given Mumbai's perennial struggle to find a successful opening combination, the owners could also be tempted to bring back West Indian batsman Dwayne Smith, who scored four fifties in the last season.

Rajasthan Royals' statement of intent

While it was expected that Chennai and Mumbai would go all in to retain the core of their strong squad, Rajasthan Royals have issued a statement of intent by retaining five players of their own. Ahead of the deadline day when teams had to submit their player retention list, one expected Rajasthan to hold on to the big-hitting Shane Watson and build a team around him or, at best, use the joker card to get back three of their former players. Yet, Rajasthan have lined-up Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Stuart Binny and James Faulkner alongside Watson. Rajasthan's philosophy of building a side filled with youngsters has been the trend since the very first season; when they went on to win the league under Shane Warne's captaincy.

Despite his technical approach, Rahane proved that he can fit into the T20 format with ease and panache. He has been in rich vein of form in the last couple of seasons and has 1316 runs to his names across six years of IPL, including ten fifties and a hundred. The young Sanju Samson added weight to Rajasthan's brand of fearless cricket as he soaked in the pressure on multiple occasions to score 206 runs in his debut season last year. Binny, who was recently awarded a call-up to the national side for the New Zealand tour, scored close to 300 runs and picked up six wickets in the previous season. He too has showcased his ability to bat in crunch situations and has bailed his side out a couple of times, pushing the management to keep him.

Since two of their retained players are uncapped (Binny and Samson), the Royals have to forgo Rs. 4 crore for both. Hence, their entire spending on the five players stands at Rs.37.5 crores, with Rs. 22.5 crores to spend at the auction.

Right to match: Perhaps, the only jigsaw missing from the Rajasthan Royals' puzzle is the big-hitting Australian Brad Hodge. With an average of 41.85 in the previous season, Hodge will bring more strength to the side that finished at the third position last season.

Royal Challengers Bangalore's trusted trio

The Royal Challengers Bangalore management probably, had the easiest task among all teams, as they named Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli as their retained players. RCB's mentality suggests a mindset that beefing up in one discipline of the game - batting -- will almost guarantee them a cover for the rest. With three devastating batsmen in their ranks, they can now look forward to constructing their bowling department from scratch. Royal Challengers have spent Rs. 29.5 crores on their acquisitions and will go into the auctions with Rs. 31.5 crores for the rest of their squad.

Right to match: RCB too have the option of reclaiming one player using the joker card. With their batting department all but secured, they might look to get back one bowler who can spearhead their attack. With 13 wickets in 10 matches in 2013, West Indies' Ravi Rampaul could be a handy option.

Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad play it safe

The Shahrukh Khan-owned franchise saw a terrible start to their life in IPL as they struggled in the first three years with their initial squad. An overhaul in 2011 proved to be fruitful as, under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir, they went on to clinch the title in 2012. Although they suffered a poor season last year and the fact that Gambhir has lost his place in the Indian side, the franchise has continued to put their faith in him. The decision is not too baffling despite Gambhir's form as his leadership in the tournament has been quintessential for their team. Gambhir has in fact come a long way after replacing the local hero Sourav Ganguly at the helm. His ability to stay focused in tough situations and steer the team to a title seems to have strengthened his case in the eyes of the management.

KKR have also gone in for Sunil Narine, their mystery spinner. Narine, who was picked in 2012, has been phenomenal, with 46 wickets across two seasons. With three four-wicket hauls and a fifer, he is hot property in this league. The slow nature of the Eden Gardens wicket has suited him to perfection and he has been able to exploit them well.

With two retentions, KKR have spent Rs. 22 cores and have Rs. 38 crores at their disposal for the auctions.

Right to match: Mohammed Shami's growth at the international level in 2013 should make KKR's decision of reclaiming him fairly simple. For the second joker card option, however, there could be a tussle between the troika of Eoin Morgan, Ryan ten Doeschate and Brendon McCullum. Utility-wise Ten Doeschate offers more as an all-rounder but one cannot forget how McCullum got IPL to a blazing start in 2008 with his knock of 158 and the fact that Morgan can turn a game in a span of 15-20 minutes with his lusty blows. It could be an extremely close call.

Sunrisers Hyderabad have held on to their talismanic performer Dale Steyn. Steyn finished with 19 wickets in 17 games for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their debut season and was devastating even when he returned without any wickets. His economy rate of 5.66 during IPL 2013 proves his impact in Sunrisers' multiple low-scoring wins that took them to the fourth spot. The franchise from Hyderabad also retained left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan, who had a dream run in 2013 after making a scintillating Test debut against Australia in Mohali. Despite their good performance, there was a big disparity between the quality and contribution of their foreign recruits and the domestic players. With Steyn and Dhawan from previous year, it looks evident that the management is looking to find different options in terms of domestic players that will have to fill up the majority of the squad. As far as their foreign players are concerned, a name or two could be considered while using the joker card.

Right to match: Sunrisers Hyderabad will perhaps, spend the rest of the time leading upto the auctions to zero in on three former squad members who they can reclaim using the 'right to match' option. Darren Sammy and Thisara Perera have won matches singlehandedly for the team on different occasions while Cameron White has been in devastating for in the ongoing season of the Big Bash League. It looks highly unlikely that the team would look to reclaim Kumar Sangakkara who was woefully out of form with the bat last season but they might also want to consider Quinton de Kock, who recently scored three back-to-back tons in ODIs against India. In Quinton, SRH will have an able ally for Dhawan at the top of the order which they missed dearly in the previous edition. With the option of reclaiming two players, it could be a toss up between Sammy and Perera for the first and De Kock over White for the second spot.

Kings XI Punjab's gamble

One of the biggest gambles in the player retention round came from the Kings XI Punjab camp. With Adam Gilchrist, their skipper in the last season, calling it quits in 2013, and the fact that they did not enjoy a very successful outing last year, signaled a possible overhaul.

The Preity Zinta-owned franchise have done well to retain the young South African David Miller who enthralled the home crowd in Chandigarh with his breathtaking stroke play to slam 101 from 38 deliveries. Yet, they may have made a mistake by naming young uncapped cricketer Manan Vohra as their second player retained. Make no mistake that Vohra is an exciting talent, but monetarily, Punjab seem like they have played it far too safe by not looking at Vohra as a 'right to match' option. Instead, they have decided to part with Rs. 4 crores, which, at the moment, seems like a bit of an overspend on the youngster. Having spent Rs. 16.5 crores in all, Punjab will have Rs. 43.5 crores at their disposal for the player auctions.

Right to match: Punjab have the option of reclaiming two players via joker card. Their decision to put their faith in an inexperienced youngster over a few bigger names suggests that they are looking for a fresh start. It will be interesting how they resist the chance to reclaim someone like David Hussey and Shaun Marsh. There are chances they will put an upper limit price on this duo and reclaim them only if the highest bid falls within their expectation.

Delhi Daredevils' overhaul plan?

Delhi's move to retain none from their previous squad puts the likes of Kevin Pietersen, David Warner and Virender Sehwag back into the auction pool. It must have been a long, delayed and highly debated discussion on whether to hold on to seasoned campaigners like Pietersen and Warner. One can only speculate that they are probably eyeing a re-union with the likes of Aaron Finch and Ross Taylor who will be available in the auction and build a new side altogether. Either way, Delhi have ensured that the player auctions in February will be very exciting. They will have their entire budget of Rs. 60 crores for the auctions.

Right to match: Current mentality suggests that they will not be looking to reclaim any of their past players but it would be interesting to see if they actually match the highest bid for low-key off-spinner Shahbaz Nadeem. Nadeem picked up nine wickets in the previous edition and is the least likely spinner to spark a bidding war, giving Delhi a chance to get him at a cheap price.