IPL 2022: Punjab Kings retain two Indian players as KL Rahul chooses to move on

With the deadline for the Indian Premier League 2022 (IPL) player retention just a few hours away, a report has confirmed that Punjab Kings have decided to hold on to only two players. The two players are opener Mayank Agarwal and bowler Arshdeep Singh. Both the players are Indian and while Mayank has played for the Indian national team before, Arshdeep is still uncapped.

According to ESPNcricinfo, Punjab Kings team have lost out on their star batsman and skipper KL Rahul but managed to hold on to Mayank Agarwal, who in their opinion is their second-best batsman. Along with the opener, they decided to retain Arshdeep Singh who is a left-arm seamer and is considered to be a key part of their bowling lineup.

In the previous edition of the IPL, Mayank managed to score 441 runs at an average of 40.09 and a sensational strike rate of 140.44, so it is understandable why they wanted to retain him. As for Arshdeep, he was brilliant with the ball as he took 18 wickets in 12 matches though he was a little expensive with an economy of 8.27. However, at the age of just 22, there is a lot that the young seamer can learn and he will cost only Rs. 4 crores to retain as is an uncapped player.

What are the IPL 2022 Retention rules?

The rules of retention for the IPL 2022 mega auction is slightly different from the previous mega auction held ahead of the 2018 edition of IPL, as teams have a purse of INR 90 crores this time, with the option to retain a maximum of three Indian players before the deadline ends on Tuesday.

Following the retention of players by the eight original teams, the two new IPL franchises - Lucknow and Ahmedabad, will have the option to pick three players from the rest of the players, which will include two Indian players and a foreign player. Out of the eight original teams, if a team chooses to retain four players in total, it will head to the auctions with a purse of INR 48 crores. The IPL 2022 player auction is likely to take place in the first week of January, while no official date is confirmed so far.

Image: PTI