Flamboyant keeper-batter Rishabh Pant's nine-year association with Delhi Capitals officially ended on Thursday, while South African Heinrich Klaasen with ₹23 crore valuation pipped none other than peerless Virat Kohli (₹21 crore) to emerge as the top-most retention for the upcoming IPL season.

KKR's IPL winning captain Shreyas Iyer is also back in the auction pool after his discussions with the management failed, while Mumbai Indians retained all their five star players, including skipper Hardik Pandya, national captains Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, pace ace Jasprit Bumrah and young NT Tilak Varma. They exhausted full retention purse of Rs 75 crore.

Punjab Kings have spent just Rs 9.5 crore, the least amount for retention, on two uncapped players Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh. They would go into the auction with highest purse of Rs 110.5 crore and also four RTM (Right To Match) cards.

Pant and DC

DC's ownership structure is a complicated one with co-owners GMR and JSW getting powers to control management for two years at a time. Hence Pant, who is a JSW recruit, wasn't the top choice for GMR management headed by co-owner Kiran Grandhi.

The moment GMR took charge, they removed the earlier coaching management, including former Director of Cricket, Sourav Ganguly, and brought in Venugopal Rao.

If sources are to be believed, Pant wasn't exactly very pleased with the appointment of Rao and Hemang Badani, who possibly would have been given powers to overrule the skipper.

Discussions over the last month didn't yield any result and Pant didn't want to work with unfamiliar coaching staff thrust on him by the new management.

Retentions

Delhi Capitals: Axar Patel (₹16.5 crore), Kuldeep Yadav (₹13.25 crore), Tristan Stubbs (₹10 crore), Abhisek Porel (₹4 crore) -- ₹43.75 crore. Purse for auction: ₹76.25 crore. RTM: 2

Star Studded MI: Mumbai Indians didn't have much of a choice save one slot where they could pick fresh blood. They have paid Jasprit Bumrah the top retention price of ₹18 crore, while India T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav (₹16.35 crore) and franchise skipper Hardik Pandya (₹16.35 crore) were paid equal retention price.

Retentions: Jasprit Bumrah (₹18 crore), Suryakumar Yadav (₹16.35 crore), Hardik Pandya (₹16.35 crore), Rohit Sharma (₹16.30 crore), NT Tilak Varma (₹8 crore). Retention Price: ₹75 crore.

Purse for auction: Rs 45 crore. RTM: 1

RCB and Virat Kohli: Virat Kohli and RCB are inseparable and hence if there would have been one retention, it would be the iconic India batter.

Retention: Virat Kohli (₹21 cr), Rajat Patidar (₹11 cr) and Yash Dayal (₹5 crore) ₹37 crore. Auction Purse: ₹83 crore. RTM: 3

Punjab Kings: Not getting into the play-offs for 10 straight years means that Punjab Kings never had a settled look. They retained only two uncapped players -- keeper-opener Prabhsimran Singh and finisher Shashank Singh.

Retention: ₹9.5 crore. Auction Purse: ₹110.5 crore RTM: 4

KKR retains its core: Shreyas Iyer must have thought that he is worth way more than his current value of ₹12.25 crore after leading KKR to the IPL title.

However not being an automatic India T20 choice and a poor strike rate of less than 140 meant that KKR was never going to shell out big bucks for him. The franchise has released him and he is DC's No.1 captaincy target. The franchise is believed to have kept ₹20 crore minimum for him.

Retentions: Rinku Singh (₹13 crore) Varun Chakravarthy (₹12 crore) Sunil Narine (₹12 crore), Andre Russell (₹12 crore), Harshit Rana (₹4 crore), Ramandeep (₹4 crore). Retention: ₹57 crore. Purse: ₹63 crore. RTM: 0.

SRH and Hein ‘Rich’ Klaasen: Heinrich Klaasen at Rs 23 crore is value for money as he probably is one of the best hitters of Indian spinners on slow tracks, a rare USP among foreign batters.

Retention: Pat Cummins (₹18 crore), Abhishek Sharma (₹14 crore) Nitish Reddy (₹6 crore), Heinrich Klaasen (₹23 crore), Travis Head (₹14 cr) Retention: ₹75 crore Auction Purse: ₹45 crore. RTM: 1

CSK and prudence: CSK didn't have too many surprises except giving the same retention amount to both skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and veteran Ravi Jadeja. MS Dhoni, for whom the uncapped player rule was created, was retained for ₹4 crore.

Retention: Ruturaj Gaikwad (₹18 crore), Matheesha Pathirana (₹13 crore), Shivam Dube (₹12 crore), Ravindra Jadeja (₹18 crore), MS Dhoni (₹4 crore). Retention: ₹65 crore. Auction Purse: ₹55 crore. RTM 1.

Rajasthan Royals: RR had room for all the talent that it groomed over the years with no place for Jos Buttler, R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal.

Retention: Sanju Samson (₹18 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (₹18 crore), Riyan Parag (₹14 crore), Dhruv Jurel (₹14 crore), Shimron Hetmyer (₹11 crore), Sandeep Sharma (₹4 crore)

Retention: ₹79 crore (will be adusted) Purse: ₹41 crore RTM: 0

LSG release KL Rahul: Keeping Nicholas Pooran at a premium price of ₹21 crore seems to be a good choice.

Retention: Nicholas Pooran (₹21 crore) Ravi Bishnoi (₹11 crore), Mayank Yadav (₹11 crore), Mohsin Khan (₹4 crore), Ayush Badoni (₹4 crore).

Retention: ₹51 crore Auction Purse: ₹69 crore

For GT, Rashid is safe place: T20 league's premier bowler Rashid Khan was given top billing at ₹18 crore, while India's white-ball vice-captain Shubman Gill was second highest retention for the franchise.

Retention: Rashid Khan (₹18 crore), Shubman Gill (₹16.5 crore), B Sai Sudharsan (₹8.5 crore), Rahul Tewatia (₹ 4 crore), M Shahrukh Khan (₹4 crore), Retention: ₹51 crore Auction Purse: ₹69 crore. RTM 1.

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