Harbhajan Singh, former India spinner, has shared his choices for the players that Delhi Capitals (DC) should retain ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. The deadline for Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises to submit their list of retained players is just a few days away (October 31).
And the announcement byteh franchises is expected soon as experts and former players forecast the names that the franchises will wish to keep.
While Rishabh Pant is considered to be an obvious choice for Delhi Capitals (DC), former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has provided his list of players that DC may keep heading into the auction, which is expected to take place on November 25-26 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
"About Delhi Capitals, we have heard a lot of things around whether Rishabh Pant will be retained or not. Only time will tell. But if I were a part of the management, I would definitely retain him," said Harbhajan in a Star Sports video.
Harbhajan predicted that DC may not opt for an uncapped player and pick 4 or 5 capped players out of its current roster.
"Pant should be the first retention, followed by Axar Patel, then Tristan Stubbs. The fourth retention, as I see it, should be Jake Fraser-McGurk; and if you want to retain a fifth player, it could be Mitchell Marsh," said Harbhajan.
According to the IPL Player Regulations announced earlier this month, "franchises can retain a total of 6 players from their existing squad. This can be either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) option. It is at the discretion of the IPL franchise to choose their combination for Retentions and RTMs. The 6 retentions/RTMs can have a maximum of 5 capped players (Indian and overseas) and a maximum of 2 uncapped players."
"I don't find any other player they would want to retain. So I think Delhi Capitals should retain 4-5 players and pick the remaining squad from the (auction) pool,” Harbhajan Singh concluded.
Also retaining five capped players will mean DC will have to fork out a minimum of INR 75 crores from their purse of INR 120 crores.
According to the price slabs, the first retention costs at least INR 18 crore, the second INR 14 crore, and the third INR 11 crore. The fourth and fifth retained players have greater price slabs than the third, with minimums of INR 18 crore and INR 14 crore, respectively. An uncapped player costs a franchise a minimum of INR 4 crore.
