On the last day of the deadline, inaugural IPL champions Rajasthan Royals (RR) disclosed the names of players who have been retained for the 2022 edition. The retained players won’t be part of the mega auction, expected to take place in January 2022.

While the existing eight franchises were allowed to retain a total of four players (maximum two overseas and up to three Indians), RR decided to hold on to three players from their IPL 2021 squad featuring 28 cricketers.

Skipper Sanju Samson, who was the highest run-scorer for the Royals last season, has been retained by the franchise for INR14 crore. Samson had aggregated 484 runs from 14 matches at a strike rate of 136.72 in the 2021 edition.

England wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler and uncapped opener Yashasvi Jaiswal also made it to retention list for INR 10 crore and 4 crore respectively. Buttler has been Rajasthan’s most consistent performers with the bat for the last four seasons, while young Jaiswal impressed one and all with his strokeplay in the 2021 edition.

RR decided to let go T20 superstars such as Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone, Jofra Archer, Chris Morris despite having another retention option and the move baffled the fans and cricket pundits. 

Since Rajasthan Royals retained three players, INR 33 crorehas been deducted from their purse worth INR 90 crore.