IPL 2021 : Here’s why MI can’t retain Suryakumar, Ishan next year
India faced England in the second T20 International of the five-match series at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium. After losing the first T20 International by a massive 8 wickets against England, India made two changes in their Playing XI going into the second game as they replaced opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan and spin all-rounder Axar Patel with Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav respectively.
Both Suryakumar and Kishan made their debut for the Men in Blue. Kishan smashed a blazing 56 and alongside Virat Kohli, helped India clinch the 2nd T20I by seven wickets. Suryakumar’s batting was not needed as India completed the chase comfortably. However, the debut of Surya and Kishan might create problems for their IPL franchise Mumbai Indians (MI).
It is speculated that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will be hosting the mega-auction for the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the tournament will see an expansion with the inclusion of two new teams. If the mega-auction is conducted, then Mumbai won’t be able to retain both the swashbuckling batsmen.
The retention rule states that an IPL franchise can retain any three players but RTM can be used for retaining only one overseas and one uncapped player during the IPL auction. In this scenario, MI will retain Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya as the three capped Indian players and will have to let go of both Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav.
It would be interesting to see if the IPL Governing Council makes any changes to the existing rules ahead of the IPL 2022 Mega Auction. If not, then the defending champions will have to brainstorm their way out of this trouble.
