Chennai Super Kings fans will be as thrilled not just that their favourite franchise is back in action after two years in suspension, but that the core group of players that arguably defined it as a side — MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja — have been retained for the upcoming season.
With the Indian Premier League 2018 auction in the offing, franchises have settled the first phase of determining the basic make-up of their sides at a player retention ceremony in Mumbai — the retention announcement cut-off date was January 4.
Each franchise is entitled to retain up to five players, under the Player Retention and the Right to Match criteria. The right to match will come into effect during the auction.
Rajasthan Royals , who also comes back into the pool this season, have retained Australia captain Steven Smith.
Mumbai Indians backed in-form batsman Rohit Sharma, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and death-overs expert Jasprit Bumrah.
Kolkata Knight Riders have held on to West Indians Sunil Narine and Andre Russell.
Delhi Daredevils decided to stick with Rishabh Pant, Chris Morris and Shreyas Iyer.
Royal Challengers Bangalore chose to hang on to three star batsmen in Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Sarfaraz Khan.
And Sunrisers Hyderabad took care to retain their mainstays from previous editions. David Warner and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar.
