Kings XI Punjab seem to be pretty certain about their retention policy for the next edition of Indian Premier League. The Punjab based IPL franchise co-owned by renowned Bollywood actress Preity Zinta is all set to retain only one player beside using the Right To Match (RTM) cards to keep players who have been consistent for them over the last few seasons.

The last date of submission for the player retention is January 4 while the much-awaited IPL auction is scheduled to be held in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28.

Speaking ahead of the player retention, KXIP director Virender Sehwag has confirmed that they will retain just one player.

"We are planning to retain one player and use our Right To Match (RTM) cards for players who have done well for us like Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Hashim Amla, Sandeep Sharma or Mohit Sharma,” Sehwag was quoted by Sportskeeda as saying.

“We are planning to use all our RTM cards. We would like to pick new talent. We have done it in the past with Sandeep Sharma or Axar Patel,” he further added.

Kings XI Punjab haven’t performed to their potential in the cash-rich Indian Premier League thus far. In the 10-year long history of the tournament, KXIP have qualified only twice in the playoffs. It will be interesting to see how the combination of newly appointed head coach Brad Hodge and mentor turned director of cricket Virender Sehwag will fare for the Punjab based franchise in the next season.

It is learnt that the IPL player retention will be telecasted live on TV with the new broadcasting partner – Star Sports on Thursday evening.

According to the reports in Bangalore Mirror, the officials of the respective IPL teams have been asked to be present in the garden city on Thursday evening. The reports further suggest that few of the 'retained' players can also turn up on the day.