The preparations for the Indian Premier League (IPL 2022) season have already begun. With the announcement of two new franchises, Lucknow and Ahmedabad, all the eyes are on the player’s retention and the mega-auctions for the upcoming season.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India recently announced the rules for franchises to retain the players. Each franchise can retain up to four players, three Indian and one overseas, or two Indians and two overseas players. After this, the two new franchises will get an option to pick three players from the remaining pool.
The Delhi Capitals, who reached the Knockout stages of IPL 2021, has the problem of plenty, ahead of the mega-auctions. They will be keen to retain their core for the upcoming season. In this article, we take a look at the four players Delhi Capitals may retain ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction in December.
#1. Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant has been a match-winner for the Delhi Capitals over the years. He has scored over 2400 runs for the franchise at an average of 35.18 and a strike rate of 147.46, including a century. The left-handed can turn the match on its head with his swashbuckling batting.
Rishabh Pant took over the captaincy reigns of the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2021, as Shreyas Iyer was ruled out due to an injury. The Delhi Capitals topped the points table in the league stages and reached the knockouts under his leadership. The 24-year old is likely to be the first player to be retained by the Delhi Capitals ahead of IPL 2022 auctions.
#2. Prithvi Shaw
Prithvi Shaw is another youngster, whom the Delhi Capitals have invested a lot in over the last four years. Since his debut in the 2018 Indian Premier League season, Shaw has scored 1305 runs at an average of 24.62 and strike rate of 146.3.
Batting at the top of the order, Shaw provides brisk starts, setting up the platform for a big score. However, the right-hander needs to focus a little on his consistency. With the mega-auction lined up in December, the Delhi Capitals is likely to retain Prithvi Shaw for the long run.
#3. Kagiso Rabada
Kagiso Rabada has been the leader of the Delhi Capitals bowling unit over the last few years. He won the Purple Cap in the Indian Premier League 2020 season, taking 30 wickets, with 4/24 being his best figures.
Bowling at an express pace of over 140kmph, and nailing yorkers in the death overs, Kagiso Rabada is an asset for any T20 team in the world. Delhi Capitals will be keen to retain their match-winner pacer ahead of the mega-auctions.
#4. Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer made his IPL debut playing for the Delhi Capitals in 2015, and since then has been an integral part of the franchise. He took over the captaincy reigns from Gautam Gambhir in 2018. Shreyas led Delhi Capitals to the finals of IPL 2020, which they eventually lost to Mumbai Indians.
The right-hander has scored 2375 IPL runs at an average of 31.67 and a strike rate of 123.96. He is likely to be retained by the Delhi Capitals for the upcoming Indian Premier League season.
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