IPL franchises still undecided over retention policy

The various franchises of the Indian Premier League (IPL) seem to be poles apart when it comes to deciding on the retention policy for the upcoming season. While Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are keen for the retention policy to be exercised, heavy-weight franchises like the Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals are dead against it. No consensus has been reached as of yet.

Reportedly, the owners of the eight participating franchises of the tournament along with top officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) convened on Tuesday to discuss the retention policy as well as the ‘Right to Match’ card. However, no unanimous decision was passed owing to split interests amongst the team owners. If rumours are to believed, the current idea is for returning teams, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals to be allowed to retain some players from their 2015 squads.

It’s KKR and RR versus MI and CSK

Defending IPL champions, Mumbai Indians as well as comeback team, Chennai look interested in retaining players from their former squads to enhance their chances at winning the trophy this time around. According to ESPNCricInfo, Mumbai is looking to retain five players, along with two right-to-match (RTM) cards, while CSK are in favour of retaining four and one RTM. Mumbai, on their part, have a star-studded line-up including the likes of Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga and Jos Buttler and are justified in their view of wanting to retain 5 players.

On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals are looking to build their team from the scratch, which might upset the plans of the other franchises who may be unwilling to risk losing their star players by putting them up for auction. It’ll be interesting to see how returning teams, RR and CSK construct their team after being out of the IPL for two seasons.