IPL 2020 Auction: One surprise retention made by each team

#3 Rajasthan Royals - Varun Aaron

Aaron's consistency will be a necessity for Royals

Retained players: Steve Smith, Sanju Samson, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Mahipal Lomror, Varun Aaron, and Manan Vohra

Rajasthan Royals have been the busiest franchise in the past few days in terms of getting their balance right before the auction. The Jaipur-based franchise have made some bizarre selections as far as their retention is concerned, ahead of IPL 2020.

Royals have retained Varun Aaron, who had a pretty mediocre season last year. In his five outings in Pink, Aaron added only four wickets to his overall tally. Despite being one of the senior players in the side, he has often struggled for consistency, especially in the IPL.

He is usually expensive, and his career economy of 8.74 in IPL also alludes to the same fact. The lack of variations in his bowling is one of the major reasons for his downfall in the T20 format.

#2 Mumbai Indians - Mitchell McClenaghan

McClenaghan will find it tough to break into the XI

Retained players: Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Anmolpreet Singh, Jayant Yadav, Aditya Tare, Anukul Roy, Quinton de Kock, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, and Mitchell McClenaghan.

The defending Champions have retained their Indian core along with some of the overseas players to ensure the balance of their squad. Mumbai have also trusted Mitchell McClenaghan as their third seam bowling option to complement Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga in the fast bowling department.

However, his retention is confusing after MI roped in Trent Boult and Dhawal Kulkarni ahead of the auction this year. It is highly likely that Boult will start ahead of McClenaghan in most of the games for the Rohit Sharma-led side.

It will be a huge ask for the Kiwi pacer to break into the side. Even in the previous season, he wasn't a regular feature and managed to represent the franchise in only five matches.