TL;DR
- Five franchises let their captain walk, the most in a single retention cycle in IPL history. Two were dressing-room calls, three were purse calls.
- The mega auction purse is ₹120 crore per franchise, the largest ever. With six retentions allowed on a sliding deduction scale, most franchises enter the auction with ₹70–₈₂ crore to spend.
- The auction will be decided by three scarcities: Indian top-order batters, left-arm seamers, and overseas finishers. There are not enough of any in the pool, and the franchises know it.
The retention list dropped on a Thursday evening, the way the IPL always drops its news, at the start of a weekend so that the talk shows have two days to fill. By the time the studio shows went on air there were already five captains who had been let go, which is a record, and which is the number that everyone led with, and which is also the number that tells you the least about what is actually going on.
Who Went, And Why It Was Not Always About The Money
The salary cap for the mega auction was set at ₹120 crore per franchise. Each franchise could retain up to six players, with a sliding scale of deductions. The mathematics of it is not complicated, but the human part is. Mumbai let go of their captain, which Mumbai does not do, which Mumbai has not done in seventeen years, and which Mumbai did this time because the dressing room had, according to two people who were in it last season, stopped responding to him by the second week of May. The franchise will not say this on the record. The franchise will say it was a difficult decision taken in the best interest of the team. Both things can be true.
Chennai let go of their overseas captain, which Chennai does do, and has done before, and does for reasons that have to do with the auction purse and the age of the player and the availability of overseas slots. They kept the Indian core, which is what Chennai always does, and they let the captain walk into the auction pool, where he will be bought, and bought for more than the retention would have cost, and Chennai know this, and Chennai have done the maths.
The Three Surprises
The three surprises were Lucknow, who let go of their finisher, the one player who had won them four matches in the last two seasons from positions no other batter in the league has been in; Punjab, who let their overseas allrounder go after two seasons of him being their best player; and Delhi, who did the same with their fast bowler. Both Punjab and Delhi decisions were purse-driven. Both players will be bought back, in all likelihood, at the auction, for more than the retention would have cost. This is the bet the franchises are making, that the auction price will be lower than the retention price, and it is a bet that has paid off for franchises before and has not paid off for others.
Retention Purse Snapshot
| Franchise | Retained | Purse Left | Let Go (Notable) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mumbai | 5 | ₹74 cr | Captain (dressing-room call) |
| Chennai | 6 | ₹69 cr | Overseas captain (age/slots) |
| Lucknow | 4 | ₹82 cr | Finisher (rebuild middle order) |
| Punjab | 4 | ₹81 cr | Overseas allrounder (purse) |
| Delhi | 5 | ₹75 cr | Fast bowler (purse) |
| Bengaluru | 5 | ₹76 cr | Overseas spinner (purse) |
What The Mega Auction Will Actually Be About
The mega auction is on the 16th and 17th of August, in Bengaluru. The purse this year is the largest it has ever been, and the player pool is the largest it has ever been, because the league has expanded and because the overseas player registration has, for the first time, crossed the two hundred mark. The auction will be about three things, in this order: Indian top-order batters, left-arm seamers, and overseas finishers. There are not enough of any of them in the pool, and the ones that are there will go for prices that will make the retention decisions look, in hindsight, either clever or foolish, and nobody will know which until the season starts.
The thing to watch, if you are watching, is not the captains. The captains will be bought, and bought quickly, because franchises like captains, and because captains are the one position in the league where the market has consistently overpaid. The thing to watch is the uncapped Indian fast bowlers. There are six of them in the pool who can bowl at 140 km/h, and there are ten franchises who need one, and the auction will find out, by the second hour, exactly how much 140 is worth.
