Fans are eagerly awaiting not just for the remaining portion of IPL 2021 but also for IPL 2022. The next year’s IPL will be preceded by mega auctions. The news of mega auctions has stirred interest among fans. IPL’s mega auction has its fair shares of rules and takeaways. The retention rule states that teams can retain only 3 players in addition to using 2 Right to Match (RTM) cards in the auction.

The Right to Match Card (RTM) is a peculiar feature of mega auctions. It allows the teams to retain the services of players who had previously represented the franchise from the auction. So, if an IPL side has retained 3 players ahead of the auctions, they can use their 2 RTM cards to buy back couple more players from the auction once again.

The catch concerning RTM is that the franchises can retain only 3 capped Indian players, 2 overseas, and 2 uncapped players. 

StumpsandBails looks at two players on whom each team might use their RTM cards, in the 2022 IPL mega auctions:

#8 Sunrisers Hyderabad

SRH is quite likely to retain Kane Williamson, Rashid Khan, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in all probability. Apart from these 3 key players, SRH will be keen to use RTM for Manish Pandey and T. Natarajan. This duo has been quietly solid for SRH.

#7 Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders will look to retain the core trio of Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, and Varun Chakravarthy. They will be tempted to use their RTM on Lockie Ferguson and either Shivam Mavi or Prasidh Krishna.

#6 Punjab Kings

Punjab Kings have always had a history of not retaining players going into a mega auction. IPL 2022 might just be a little different. Kings will surely retain the services of their skipper KL Rahul. They will also look to retain flamboyant opener Mayank Agarwal and Ravi Bishnoi. These picks open up a lot of choices for Kings to use RTN wisely. They might splurge it on either Dawid Malan or Nicholas Pooran and probably Indian pacer, Mohammad Shami.

#5 Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals will retain the services of their skipper Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, and Jofra Archer. This leaves Royals with the option of using RTM on either of Rahul Tewatia and Riyan Parag. They will likely use their second RTM on young Chetan Sakariya.

#4 Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians will retain the same 3 players in 2022 as they did in 2018. MI will retain the trio of Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, and Jasprit Bumrah. They have a huge task on their hand with using the RTM effectively. MI will look to use their RTM In mega Auction  on Suryakumar Yadav and use the second RTM on either Kieron Pollard or Quinton de Kock.

#3 Royal Challengers Bangalore

Royal Challengers Bangalore in all likelihood will retain their 3-star players: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and Glenn Maxwell. The core of RCB looks complete with their possible retentions. RCB will be more than happy to use RTM on Devdutt Padikkal and Mohammad Siraj. They have been the unsung heroes of RCB in the last couple of seasons.

#2 Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings’s retention strategy depends on MS Dhoni’s availability for the season. If MS Dhoni rules himself out from the tournament that leaves CSK with the option of retaining players like Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, and Moeen Ali. CSK will be tempted to use RTM on either Faf du Plessis or Deepak Chahar. They are likely to use their second RTM on Ruturaj Gaikwad.

#1 Delhi Capitals

Delhi Capitals will stick to retaining their core of young Indian batting. They will look to retain Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and Prithvi Shaw. DC will use their RTM on Shikhar Dhawan. The toss-up for using the other RTM will be on either Axar Patel or Kagiso Rabada.