"We will see if we can pick him up in the auction" - SRH CEO on Rashid Khan

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) have dropped a bombshell with regards to player retention ahead of IPL 2022, with Rashid Khan not being retained. The ace leg-spinner from Afghanistan has decided to move into the player auction instead of being retained by the 2016 champions.

SRH have retained Kane Williamson as their skipper. Uncapped youngsters Abdul Samad and Umran Malik too have been retained by the franchise.

Rashid Khan has been SRH's best bowler since joining the team back in 2017. His numbers in the IPL stand at a staggering 93 wickets from 76 games at an astonishing economy rate of 6.33.

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"We definitely respect the decision" - SRH CEO K Shanmugam on Rashid Khan

Announcing SRH's retention list on Star Sports, the franchise's CEO K Shanmugam mentioned that Rashid Khan was a part of their plans. However, Mr Shanmugam stated that it was the player's choice to get back into the auction pool. The decision was respected and acknowledged by the franchise.

Mr Shanmugam said:

"It's a difficult decision but if a player wants to be in the auction because of the price, we definitely respect the decision. We will try and match him in (terms of) the price and see if we can pick him up in the auction".

Rashid Khan's prowess in T20 format is not unknown. He remains one of only four players to have scalped 400 or more wickets. Hence, a bidding war is expected for him in the IPL player auction.

This, of course, provided none of the two new teams from Lucknow or Ahmedabad pick Rashid Khan up in a draft prior to the auction.

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IPL franchises announce their list of retained players

Tuesday (November 30) saw pre-existing IPL franchises announce their list of retained players ahead of the 2022 season. The usual suspects Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni have all been retained by their teams. These are Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) respectively.

It is worth noting that both Kohli and Dhoni have taken a pay cut in comparison to the previous three-year cycle. Kohli will now draw INR 15 crore, as opposed to INR 17 crore earlier. Meanwhile, Dhoni's salary is now INR 12 crore, having drawn INR 15 crore before.

Ravindra Jadeja has been retained by defending champions CSK as their highest paid player at INR 16 crore. Some of the most notable Indian names to have not been retained by their teams include Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya.