IPL 2018: Dhoni reunites with CSK; Kohli, Rohit retained

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was back at his 'spiritual home' Chennai Super Kings while Royal Challengers Bengaluru retained India captain Virat Kohli during the much-publicised yet predictable Indian Premier League retentions, in Mumbai, on Thursday.

Mumbai Indians had the league's most successful captain Rohit Sharma back in their stable as most of the retentions happened on expected lines.

Current Australia skipper Steve Smith was Rajasthan Royals' only pick while his deputy David Warner remains with Sunrisers Hyderabad along with pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

"It was a great opportunity to retain some players. We want to pick impact players who can take team forward. Warner and Bhuvaneshwar are impact players and impact is the right word for SRH," team Mentor VVS Laxman said after the retention process got over.

One of the notable names not to be retained is long-time Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir, who is now back in the auction pool with West Indians Sunil Narine and Andre Russell being the Shah Rukh Khan co-owned franchise's two picks.

Kings XI Punjab had left-arm spinner Axar Patel in their ranks while South African Chris Morris, young guns Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer are back with Delhi Daredevils.

DD CEO Hemant Dua said, "Ricky Ponting has been appointed as head coach and we are going with the idea of having continuity. We have retained two youngsters and the whole team will be built around them. Chris Morris is a top all-rounder."

The franchises that has gone for full three retentions are CSK, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils and RCB.

For Mumbai Indians, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah are second and third retentions.

"Rohit and MI are synonymous while Hardik and Bumrah are special for us. We are happy that we were able to retain some players. Hardik and Bumrah are pillars of our franchise," MI supremo Akash Ambani said.

CSK have retained their powerhouse performers Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina as their second and third choice respectively.

AB de Villiers is RCB's second retention while they have kept uncapped Sarfaraz Khan for Rs 3 crore while putting Chris Gayle back in the auction pool.

RCB team director Amrit Thomas said, "Virat and AB retain themselves. In Sarfaraz, we wanted to invest in youth as he is a phenomenal player."

The purse that one spends for retention of three capped players is Rs 15 crore for Player 1, Rs 11 crore for Player 2 and Rs 7 crore for Player 3 while for two retentions – it's Rs 12.5 crore for Player 1 and Rs 8.5 crore for player 2.

However for Virat Kohli, the retention was Rs 17 crore, which incidentally is his league fee. A single player retention had a deduction of Rs 12.5 crore.

The retention list of players was announced by Board of Control for Cricket in India on Thursday.