IPL 2014 Auctions: Retention report card of all teams

Kings XI Punjab

Players retained: David Miller and Manan Vohra (TWO)

The surprise package Manan Vohra

Probably the first shock among many to come this season, the retention of the young, inexperienced Vohra was a debatable decision by the Kings XI.

Whilst they also kept on being in the lower portion of the table and fluctuated up and down last season with some good as well as bad performances, David Miller stunned many who watched him from becoming the mainstay of the KXIP line up from someone who was a second choice at the start of the season. After having a good 2013 too, for a team that needed inspiration driven by new faces, David Miller was the only one who was worthwhile to be retained.

Manan Vohra, not so famous outside Punjab, could have been bought back from the auction roster without having to let go Rs. 4 crore from the auction purse. Still, he has the support of Yuvraj Singh, who believes Vohra is a talent to look out for. Besides this selection, everything else looks good for them. They have two right-to-match cards, and they can put it to good use if it comes of any help for them.

Rating based on retention: 2.5/5

Kolkata Knight Riders

Players Retained: Gautam Gambhir and Sunil Narine (TWO)

Both Gambhir and Narine will remain with KKR

Two of the best performers of KKR in the past three seasons were Gautam Gambhir and Sunil Narine. They deserved to be retained. KKR started three seasons ago as one of the strongest teams on paper, after wise decisions taken during auction made them form a very good squad. For the most part of these three years, they lived up to their billing, even managing to win one season.

Gautam Gambhir has led from the front, as a captain, playing many wonderful match-winning knocks and has been the perfect example for other batsmen in the team. In the same way, Sunil Narine has been the nightmare for all opposition batsmen, often conceding even lesser than 5 runs an over, which effectively reduces the number of over the opposition team has to attack from 20 to 16.

Other than these two, players like Eoin Morgan, Jacques Kallis and Laxmipathy Balaji have performed well on particular occasions but none of them stand a chance at being retained for the next three seasons.

Rating based on retention: 4/5