IPL 2022: 6 players that the two new franchises might target before the auction

The two new franchises will have a chance to buy players who were not retained ahead of IPL 2022 auction.

The IPL 2022 will see a mega auction happening since two new franchises have been added to the tournament. The two new franchises are- RPSG Ventures Ltd. - Lucknow (for INR 7,090 crores) and Irelia Company Pte Ltd (CVC Capital Partners) - Ahmedabad (for INR 5,625 crores).

However, before the mega auction, on November 30^th, all of the eight original franchises declared their retentions, confirming the number and names of the players they have retained for the upcoming three seasons of the Indian Premier League.  

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Now as and when BCCI allows, the two new franchises will have a chance to grab upto 3 maximum players ahead of the mega auction in order to build the core of their teams, before getting their hands dirty in the IPL auction.

There were many big names who were not retained by the original eight franchises and some of them will be on the target of the new teams as they want to build a solid foundation for their unit.

Hence, Team COC handpicks six such superstars who the two new teams might target ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction.

YUZVENDRA CHAHAL

Yuzvendra Chahal came into the limelight while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), after a short stint in Mumbai Indians (MI). Chahal, not only became successful despite being a leg-spinner on the small ground on M Chinnaswamy in Bengaluru but even made his India debut in 2016 on basis of success for RCB in IPL.

In 114 IPL matches, Chahal has 139 wickets with a best of 4/25 and economy of 7.59 and was retained by RCB ahead of the previous auctions in yesteryears. However, this time, RCB decided to retain fast bowler Mohammed Siraj ahead of Chahal, given their history of lack of quality pacers.

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Chahal might now become a person of interest for the two new teams as both of the venues in Lucknow and Ahmedabad are quite spin-friendly and big, giving Chahal more to work with than Bengaluru.

ISHAN KISHAN

Mumbai Indians (MI) had to make the difficult call of choosing between Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan as their 4^th and final retention and they chose Suryakumar over the left-handed keeper-batter.

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This means Ishan Kishan will be free to be either picked up by one of the two new franchises or go into the auction and be bought back by Mumbai Indians. However, Kishan might be looked at by the two new franchises, even as a captaincy material, given that he has led the India U19 team in the World Cup in 2016.

Kishan is a brilliant top-order batter and an excellent wicketkeeper, giving any team that pouches him, a two-in-one advantage and possibly building a team around him as well.

SHREYAS IYER

Shreyas Iyer parted ways with Delhi Capitals, whom he had led into the finals of the IPL for the first time ever in IPL 2020 after the franchise decided to retain Rishabh Pant as their captain going forward.

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Iyer will be perfect for either of the new franchises as captain given his proven ability to lead a side well and they will also get a very good batter in the bargain. Iyer recently marked his Test debut with an excellent century and has a ton in ODI cricket as well.

In all Iyer will be a great addition to either the Lucknow or Ahmedabad franchise, should they get him ahead of the IPL 2022 auction.

RASHID KHAN

One of the biggest surprise non-retentions was that of Rashid Khan by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Apparently, Rashid and SRH management couldn’t come to an agreement over the amount and in end, Rashid decided to go into the auction instead.

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This is big news considering what Rashid has done for the SRH team in the five years since making his IPL debut for the Orange Army. He is by far the best spinner in T20 cricket in today’s time and can be looked at as a future leader as well.

Him joining any of the two new teams will be huge for them as they get an amazing leg-spinner who has a great knowledge of how to bowl in T20s and an attacking lower-order batter as well.

KL RAHUL

Another huge non-retention was KL Rahul, who parted ways with Punjab Kings despite leading them for the past two seasons.

If reports are to be believed, Rahul already has an offer from the RPSG group-owned Lucknow franchise to join them and be their captain. Even if the reports are not true, either of the two new franchises getting KL Rahul will be extremely fortunate to have him in their squad.

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Rahul has had an excellent past 3-4 seasons in IPL. He scored 659 runs in his debut season for Punjab Kings in IPL 2018 and then followed it with the 593, 670, and 626 runs in the next three editions of the marquee tournament.

DAVID WARNER

One of the biggest names to be entering into the IPL 2022 auction will be David Warner, who was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) after a much public fall-out that saw him losing his captaincy and spot in the XI mid-way into the IPL 2021 tournament.

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Warner had confirmed that SRH would not retain him and now he’ll go into the IPL 2022 auction. However, there is a chance that any of the new franchises might entice him with an offer he cannot refuse and get him to captain their team in the next year’s tournament.

Warner has the pedigree and record to show as he won SRH their only IPL tournament in 2016 and is one of the most successful batters in the IPL history with 5449 runs in 150 IPL matches with 4 centuries and 50 half-centuries at a strike rate of 139.36.