IPL Retention on Thursday has created an upheaval of sorts, among all the teams. Now, identifying and bagging the players of their choice would lead them to spending a bomb, from their remaining purse. For example, RCB would go all out to buy local boy KL Rahul, who was released by LSG. RCB don’t have a captain for now, and are desperate for a batter, after Faf du Plessis was let go, who is reliable on top of the order.
That said, Rahul can keep wickets as well, that is a bonus. So he is the perfect choice for them. Likewise, Ishan Kishan would be the perfect choice for someone like LSG, who might have found a new skipper in Nicholas Pooran, but don’t have a keeper as of now. See, apart from retaining Pooran for 21 Cr, they have saved Ravi Bishnoi and Mayank Yadav for 11 Cr, and Ayush Badoni-Mohsin Khan for 4 Cr each.
Pooran can well keep wickets, but why put an extra burden on him. Instead, someone like an Ishan Kishan can be chosen, who is not only a decent keeper, but also an explosive batter, who would be excellent at the top. For the record, he has played 105 IPL matches till now, and scored 2644 runs at an average of 28. He has a strike rate of 135, and has 16 fifties.
In IPL 2024, in 14 matches, he scored 320 runs at an average of 22.86, at a strike rate of 148.84. This time MI did not prefer the southpaw batter, and would be on the lookout for a suitable candidate as well. Perhaps, someone like Rishabh Pant could be on their radar, who happens to be on CSK’s hit list as well.
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