IPL 2025: "Pant, Axar,....Khaleel" - Did Delhi Capitals Co-Owner Parth Jindal Reveal Retention Plans?

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Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal has possibly revealed an expected list of players, who the franchise could retain ahead the IPL Mega Auction 2025, which is set to be held later this year in November.

The IPL Governing Council last week announced the much-awaited player retention rules, which allows a total of 6 players to be retained from the existing squad. The six retentions could be a mix of retentions and the use of Right to Match (RTM) cards at the auction.

The rules also said the retention could include a maximum of 5 capped players (Indian or overseas), and a maximum of 2 uncapped players. However, if the 5 capped players are to be retained, the team would lose Rs 75 crore of their Rs 120 crore purse for the auction.

Many experts and fans have been making predictions and their picks for the 10 teams. Recently, DC co-owner Parth Jindal also revealed his wish-list of 8 players, possibly making clear the priority of the franchise.

Speaking to reporters at an event in Hisar, Haryana, Jindal was quick to confirm the obvious name of skipper and star wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, while he also revealed seven other names that will be in the discussions.

"The (retention) rules have just come out. So after discussing with co-owners GMR and our director of cricket, Sourav Ganguly, decisions will be made," said Jindal in a video by IANS.

The DC co-owner said skipper Pant was an obvious choice before revealing six other names, including Abhishek Porel, Mukesh Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed as some players who will be in their plans alongside Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Jake Fraser-McGurk and Tristan Stubbs.

"Rishabh Pant will definitely be retained. We also have Axar Patel, who is excellent, Tristan Stubbs, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Kuldeep Yadav, Abishek Porel, Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed; all very good players in our team," he added.

"We'll see what happens in the auction. But first, as per the rule, we can retain six players. After discussions, we will proceed with the auction and see what happens..."

Most teams will want to retain their core of the squad, but will be forced to dip into the auction to fulfill their wish as most will not like to blow a substantial part of their budget in retentions.

DC, who are likely to retain Pant and Axar, may opt to use the RTM card on the other players in their priority list of Fraser-McGurk, Stubbs, Kuldeep, Porel, Mukesh and Khaleel. The deadline for the retention window is October 31, 2024.