Continuing from where we left off the retentions in the last article, we look at final four teams in MI, LSG, PBKS and GT!
Using the latest cricket data from Spoda we perform data analytics in cricket and this articles intends to complete a deep dive into the possible retentions and why they should be retained for this season.
Lucknow Super Giants – Retentions.
Nicholas Pooran is an obvious pick, not least because of his performance this calendar year, well documented in an article here. Having scored 499 runs this season at an average of 62.4 and a strike rate of 178.2, especially brutal against pace, against which he went at 182.8!
Ravi Bishnoi bowls lots of googlies and he gets lots of wickets as well! He has already picked 63 wickets at an average of 29.1 and an economy of just 7.81. While he did have a poor season in 2024, he is a long term investment worth making for LSG.
Mayank Yadav did not manage to play a lot this season, but bowling 150 clicks, he is already a massive talent, having been capped for India as well. He took 7 wickets in his 4 games, including two back-to-back Player of the Match awards!
Mohsin Khan has been a revelation for the Lucknow Super Giants, having taken 27 wickets at an average of 25.5 with an economy of 8.5, with a majority of his overs coming in the Powerplay and the Death overs.
Just like Mohsin, Ayush Badoni has managed to be massive for the Lucknow Super Giants at a young age already, having performed memorable rescue jobs for the side! Badoni already averages 24.4 and strikes at 134, with the only way being upwards!
Punjab Kings - Players to Retain.
Shashank Singh should be the first retention they look to make, even as an uncapped player, he has averaged 28.4 going at 145.3 with his balls per boundary being 4.8 and his strike rate at the death rising to 181.4!
Arshdeep Singh must be retained using the RTM option, with his value not rising beyond 14 crore because of the auction dynamics. Since 2022, he has taken 141 wickets at an average of 22.6, with an economy of 8.6 with 52.5% of his wickets coming at the Death!
Sam Curran might have underperformed, but with their move to Mullanpur, Curran should be in the reckoning to be kept using the RTM option once more for the Kings. Having scored at a rate of 134 and taken 140 wickets with 40% of those wickets coming at the death, Mullanpur will be the ideal conditions for Curran to prosper in.
Harshal Patel falls in a similar bracket to Sam Curran, where his ability to bowl slower balls at the death and with the venue conditions and dimensions at Mullanpur will come in really handy, and the RTM option being a lot more attractive for him. He has taken 52% of his wickets at the death!
Prabhsimran Singh should be their second uncapped retention, not only does he offer them a keeping option, but since 2023 he has also averaged 24.7 while striking at 153.4, being a middle overs aggressor where he strikes at 155.5 which makes him a good option!
Gujarat Titans - Retentions.
Shubman Gill is the first and foremost retention as skipper and batter at 18 crore, having averaged 41.5 and struck at 146.3 from the start of 2022. His continued growth in the format will keep making him a better option.
Rashid Khan automatically picks himself in the 14 crore bracket where he has taken 209 wickets since the start of 2022 with an economy of just 6.5 through the middle overs and 61.2% of his wickets coming there.
David Miller is worth the 11 crore they will be paying David Miller for his ability to finish off a game and his ability to guide the youngsters in the middle order around him, bringing in the experience. Miller has averaged 33.4 and struck at 136.6 since the start of 2022!
At just 4 crore, Mohit Sharma should be a steal for the Gujarat Titans, with his ability bowling at the death, using his slower balls! Having taken 46 wickets since 2022 at an economy of just 8.7 and his strike rate of a wicket every 10.9 balls at the death being eye-catching.
Sai Sudarshan and Shubman Gill will form an elite batting duo for the Titans, with Sudarshan's ability against spin a striking feature, where he averages 85.6 and strikes at 145.6 against it since the start of 2022! The ideal way to go about him being a RTM card.
Noor Ahmad should be another one of the players they should look to spend their RTM card on, forming a duo of spin with fellow countryman in Rashid Khan. Noor takes 70% of his wickets in the middle overs at an economy of 6.9, making sure with Rashid, they get eight overs of spin every game.
Mumbai Indians - Retentions.
He doesn't need an introduction, Jasprit Bumrah should be amongst the first retentions they should make at 18 crore. With his economy, his dot ball % and Yorker % a particular stand out already! Jasprit Bumrah's economy when bowling yorkers for Mumbai Indians is 5.18.
Bumrah- ER of 5.8, dot ball % of 49, Yorker % - 14.
The rest of the MI squad combined: dot ball percentage- 24, Yorker % - 6.5
Hardik Pandya will have to be their second pick at 14 crore, while Pandya did go through a loss of form, he managed to show up in internationals for India when it mattered and Mumbai are a team known to back their players, Pandya has struck at 175.44 with an economy of 8.25 for India in 2024!
Tilak Varma has been the best batter Mumbai have had since his debut where he has scored 1156 runs at an average of 39.9 and struck at 146.3. The scouting find of the cycle, it is tough to see Varma not retained. Making Varma their third choice at 11 crore.
Suryakumar Yadav is amongst the best T20 batters going around right now if not the best, and he is worth the 18 crore that Mumbai will have to spend on him, having scored 3553 runs at an average of 42.3 and a strike rate of 169.8 with 3.9 balls per boundary since the start of 2022! Suryakumar Yadav scores 30 or more runs in 51.43% of innings for Mumbai Indians from 2022 to 2024.
Nehal Wadhera should be the uncapped retention the Mumbai Indians look to make, with Wadhera having scored 478 runs at an average of 28.1 and a strike rate of 145.3, with a massive upside that he offers! Yet another scouting find from Mumbai!
Gerald Coetzee ought to be retained for 14 crore, for the final spot at the Mumbai Indians, where he took 13 wickets in 10 games, with only Bumrah having been the better bowler for them. Coetzee provides them with a high ceiling, and 82 wickets at just 20.7 in his career proves that, not to mention his batting upside as well!
Data for this retentions article was collected from spoda.ai, the world's first cricket intelligence tool that uses data and makes cricket analytics simple and offers you an all-in-one cricket analytics solution.
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