Some teams, have gone all-in with their key players, keeping the core intact. CSK have retained their captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, Matheesha Pathirana, Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube along with Dhoni. Apart from Chennai, Mumbai Indians have managed to retain their core group of players barring Ishan Kishan. This means Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma will remain in blue while Kishan will be playing for a new team. Having already retained five capped Indians, Mumbai cannot use Right To Match for Kishan at the auction.

Similarly, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals too have made sure their star signings remain with them. Among this, Heinrich Klaasen will be the highest-paid player having been retained by SRH for Rs 23 crore. Next on the list is Nicholas Pooran for Rs 21 crore by LSG. For GT, captain Shubman Gill seems to have agreed on a lower price (Rs 16.5 crore) to ensure they can afford to retain their key players, including Rashid Khan (Rs 18 crore).

As it has been the case earlier, overseas stars have gone for big money, but so have a lot of Indian players. From Riyan Parag to Dhruv Jurel to Rinku Singh to Rajat Patidar to Abhishek Sharma, several youngsters have been retained for more than Rs 10 crore. Among players who have never played for India, Shashank Singh (Rs 5.5 crore) tops the list for Punjab. The likes of Mayank Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy, both of whom recently played for India, too will see a windfall in terms of their retention.

To sum it up, teams have largely ensured the players who are key to their success over the next few years are not going under the hammer while letting go of those who they can for various reasons. And some of them might go for a bigger price at the auction. But as things stand, it is hard to look past Iyer, Pant and Rahul. Whoever signs them will be building their squad around the respective player.