Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have finalised their five retentions and they are the usual suspects. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, star allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, hitter Shivam Dube, pacer Matheesha Pathirana and ‘uncapped MS Dhoni will be the five who will again be part of the CSK next season.
They will be left with one Right to Match (RTM) option and that decision could be taken on the basis of auction dynamics – Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra being top of the ladder.
That these players would be retained by CSK was a foregone conclusion, given the way the team functions and stress on continuity. What is interesting is that Ruturaj and Jadeja, the top two players who will be officially retained for Rs 18 cr and Rs 14 crore, may end up getting the same money.
There is a rule of ‘redistribution of purse’ that has been brought in by the IPL governing council, whereby how much money each player gets can be decided internally, provided the final amount remains the same.
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In such a scenario, CSK may respect the seniority of Jadeja and the current status of Ruturaj and offer them the same purse, even though one will be above the other when the list is submitted. So if Jadeja is a Rs 18 crore retention and Ruturaj at Rs 14 crore, both may get Rs 16 crore. The final decision, though, will be taken after discussion with the players.
While Dhoni will take the Rs 4 crore retention, it will be interesting how the franchise deals with the Pathirana-Dube situation. Both are crucial players and their pay-packets may not be hugely dissimilar either.