By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen edged cricket superstar Virat Kohli to become the most expensive player retained in the Indian Premier League on Thursday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad re-signed the hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman for $2.73 million alongside skipper Australians Pat Cummins and Travis Head.
The 33-year-old Klaasen amassed 479 runs including four half-centuries at a strike rate of over 171 in this year’s IPL as Hyderabad ended runners-up.
Klaasen surpassed the previous $2.02 million paid by Royal Challengers Bengaluru to Kohli in 2017.
Klaasen is just one of 10 overseas players retained, with others including Australia captain Pat Cummins and batter Travis Head (both Sunrisers Hyderabad), Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan (Gujarat Titans) and West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran (Lucknow Super Giants) and Andre Russell (Kolkata Knight Riders).
Indian superstars Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma (both Mumbai Indians), Kohli (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) and Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings) are among those to be kept.
Some of India’s key players will enter the draft though, with KL Rahul (Lucknow Super Giants), Rishabh Pant (Delhi Capitals), Ravichandran Ashwin (Rajasthan Royals) and Mohammed Siraj (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) among those released.
Among the overseas players not to be retained are Australia’s Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) and South Africa’s Anrich Nortje (Delhi Capitals), David Miller (Gujarat Titans) and Quinton de Kock (Lucknow Super Giants).
MS Dhoni, 43, will play for Chennai Super Kings again after being signed as an uncapped player. A rule change means anyone who has not played international cricket for five years becomes uncapped.
Sides who have not utilised their six retentions are given Right-to-Match cards to use at the Mega Auction, which means some players could still be retained.
However, Jos Buttler and Mitchell Starc will not return to Royals or Knight Riders because they have kept six players.
Players will have to decide whether to enter the auction around their international commitments, because the IPL has introduced a two-year ban on players who pull out of the tournament without certain requirements being met.
The dates for the auction are yet to be confirmed, but it is expected to take place over two days in late November.The schedule for the tournament itself is also unknown, but usually takes place in April and May.