5 Players who can be surprise retentions ahead of IPL 2022

The IPL 2021 final saw Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings fighting it out for the ultimate glory where MS Dhoni and his men had the final laugh. The high-spirited men in yellow displayed some surreal action on the field to bring home their fourth IPL Trophy. However, as the IPL 2021 has come to an end, it is known for all that IPL 2022 will see a mega auction ahead of it.

It indicates that it is the last time for the teams with their current lots as teams will get shuffled next year. It remains to be seen who all will be retained by their franchises while who all will be released out. There are some players who might be retained by teams in a surprising turn of action and let’s take a look at them.

5 possible surprise retentions ahead of IPL 2022

1. Eoin Morgan

Though Morgan led his team to the final night of the mega event, he couldn’t produce anything substantial from his bat throughout the season. He averaged meagre 11.08 in the 2021 season and it is quite unlikely that he will be retained next season.

Even while his team struggled on the final night, he couldn’t step up and add some vital runs. However, if he is retained, it would certainly make for surprising retention, given some great young names in the KKR lot.

The management might continue to back him given his supremacy in the white-ball format at the international level and his experience so far. Having said that, his retention will be a surprising one.

2. David Warner

The story of IPL 2021 turned out to be absolutely heartbreaking for David Warner right from the Indian leg. He was firstly sacked as SRH captain and then got dropped from the XI in a worse turn of events.

It was evident that he was unable to produce from the bat and that SRH was constantly struggling, the team could’ve been a little more patient with him. He has led SRH to an IPL title in 2016 and has bagged Orange Cap in three seasons.

Towards the end of the league stage, Warner indicated from his end also that it might be his last season with the Orange army but if he gets retained in the mega auction, it will definitely come up as a surprising one for many.

3. Dinesh Karthik

The story of Dinesh Karthik started to fall down from the last season itself where he stepped down from the captaincy role to focus on his batting. However, he averaged just 14 in the IPL 2020 and it was 22.30 for the just-concluded season.

In the IPL 2021, he couldn’t step up much for his team and especially when it was needed the most for them. It is quite unlikely for KKR to retain him as they have the likes of Shubman Gill, Andre Russel, and Varun Chakravarthy to look for.

Adding to that, KKR might be highly interested in the case of the new sensation Venkatesh Iyer. Keeping all these factors in mind ahead of the mega auction, Karthik’s retention by KKR, if happens, will be a surprising one.

4. Rahul Tewatia

The story of Rahul Tewatia didn’t turn to be as impressive as Rajasthan would have thought in IPL 2020 when he pushed RR over victory singlehandedly on some occasions. His average of 15.50 this season as compared to 42.50 in IPL 2020 is heart-shattering for the team.

Even with bowling, he remained below average barring just one match, and ended the season with just eight wickets while playing all the league matches. Fans cannot forget the over of IPL 2020 where he smashed Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over and became the talk of the town.

Rajasthan’s overseas contingent was majorly missing in IPL 2021 and they add a lot of value to it. They will most probably be back in IPL 2022 and in that case, his retention by RR in mega auction looks highly doubtful.

5. Nicholas Pooran

Pooran of PBKS was given an extremely long rope by the management in IPL 2021 despite his back-to-back dismal outings on the field. Pooran smashed 353 runs in the last season of IPL while averaging 35.30 and striking at an impressive 169.71.

However, tables turned completely this time as he struggled to get going in every single match. He played 12 matches with Punjab and collected just a handful of 85 runs under his belt while averaging meagre 7.7.

He also displayed some stunning fielding efforts in IPL 2020 and impressed a lot of big names but the story flipped completely this time. It is unlikely that he will be retained ahead of the mega auction and if it happens, it will only be a surprise for all.