The 2018 Indian Premier League is set to be exciting after India captain Virat Kohli will continue to represent Royal Challengers Bangalore, while his predecessor MS Dhoni has been retained by the Chennai Super Kings.
CSK and Rajasthan Royals will return to the upcoming edition of the T20 domestic cricket league after two years of absence. The Chennai based franchise has also managed to retain left-arm batsman Suresh Raina and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
South Africa star AB de Villiers and Sarfraz Khan have also been retained by the Bangalore franchise. The latter's retention has come as a surprise for a few, but the financial factor could be the reason behind the same.
Defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad have retained their captain David Warner and pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan and India opener Shikhar Dhawan have been released by the Sunrisers.
Kolkata Knight Riders have released their captain Gautam Gambhir, which has come as a surprise for many. West Indies star duo of Sunil Narine and Andre Russell have been kept the Knight Riders.
Delhi Daredevils expectedly retained the young Indian duo of Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer along with South African all-rounder Chris Morris.
Mumbai Indians also went along expected lines retaining their three-time IPL winning skipper Rohit Sharma along with all-rounder Hardik Pandya and death-overs bowling specialist Jasprit Bumrah. Kings XI have retained Axar Patel.
(With inputs from IANS)
