IPL 2022: “Where Will The New Franchises Get Indian Players”? Aakash Chopra Questions Logic Of Teams Allowing 4 Retentions

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has questioned the logic behind the eight IPL teams being allowed to retain four players ahead of the mega auction. Ahmedabad and Lucknow join the other eight established cities in the league to make it a 10-team tournament from the next year. The Sanjeev Goenka Group have picked Lucknow as their home base for INR 7090 crores, while owners of CVC Capitals have bagged Ahmedabad for INR 5166 crores.

Meanwhile, the BCCI has laid out the retention rules ahead of IPL 2022. As per the newly laid rules, old teams can keep four players ahead of 2022 auction. After the list of retained players is finalised, the two new franchises will get the first choice from the rest of the pool ahead of the auction where they can pick up a maximum of 3 players. Also, there are two separate forms of retaining the players. Either team can keep two Indian and two overseas players or three Indians and one overseas.

Here are the IPL player retention rules ahead of the mega auction 📚

Tell us which players will your team retain? 👇#IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/YDpwttHmjq

— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) October 28, 2021

Speaking about the retention policies on his Youtube channel, Aakash Chopra seemed confused and baffled in the way the BCCI has laid out the new retention rules.

“Four players can be retained, it is a slightly mind-boggling number. The problem is if all the eight teams retain three players on an average in which three can be Indians as well, then if not 24, twenty Indians are gone. From where will the new franchises get the Indian players?”

He further said that the regular Indian players will already be retained by the various franchises. This will not give the two other franchises to get their desired players.

“Whoever is part of the Indian team currently, who is in the World Cup currently or is part of the core group of 20-22 players, they will all be picked, no one out of them will be left.”

Chopra further said that despite the two new franchises being given the bonus of three early picks, it wont be of much help to them is what he feels.

“For the new franchises, they have been allowed to pick three first-choice players. But even if they are getting three picks in the beginning, it won’t be the cream, the creme de la creme players will not be there.”

New Franchises Will Be Pegged Back A Little: Aakash Chopra

He concluded by saying that the two new franchises might well have to do with overseas captains no Indian player available to lead the two teams.

” I feel the new franchises will be pegged back a little. Then they will have overseas captains also and they will then surely raise their hands and ask for five overseas players to be allowed to be played” concluded Chopra.