Irfan Pathan’s top 4 Player Retentions for CSK and Mumbai Indians (MI).
IPL 2022 Mega Auction: The buzz around the Indian Premier League (IPL) is getting bigger and louder with the impending IPL 2022 Mega Auction. As of now, no set date for the auction is revealed, but what we all do know is that the final date to submit the list of top four retentions for the IPL franchises is 30th November.
A hell lot of brainstorming and mind-mapping is going on amongst the franchise officials to retain their best possible players who can easily serve the franchise for at least three years to come.
As far as defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is considered, the officials are pretty much sorted out with their plans for the coming auction. The reports suggest that CSK is likely to retain MS Dhoni, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja and Faf du Plessis before the IPL 2022 Mega Auction.
Former Indian cricketer, Irfan Pathan has also cast his votes as he picked his top four favourite cricketers from CSK to get retained before the commencement of the IPL 2022 Mega Auction.
The former all-rounder picked MS Dhoni, the skipper of the team, along with Ravindra Jadeja and Ruturaj Gaikwad. In his overseas options, he weighted more on English all-rounder Moeen Ali for his services.
“Mahendra Singh Dhoni yes, Ravindra Jadeja yes, Ruturaj Gaikwad absolutely yes. You might see the future in him as far as the leadership is concern, what he has shown consistency, that has been outstanding,” said Irfan Pathan while speaking to Star Sports.
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Pathan feels South African Faf du Plessis is too old to get retained by the franchise. He is already 37-years old and when franchises retain players, they look three years down the line for their services.
“But the fourth one? Sometime back I was thinking about Faf du Plessis, he is 37-year-old. You don’t wanna let go of an all-rounder, either it’s Sam Curran or Moeen Ali. I would go with Moeen Ali for the fourth spot,” he added.
Irfan Pathan’s top 4 Player Retention for Mumbai Indians (MI):
The all-rounder was unsure if Mumbai Indians (MI) would shell out their money for all-rounder Hardik Pandya. The Baroda cricketer is still in the recovery process of his back and shoulder injury which has troubled him a lot of late.
Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah are the automatic choices for any team followed by all-rounder Kieron Pollard.
“Ishan Kishan could be the first pick for Mumbai Indians. As for Hardik Pandya, you have got to understand. His form has dipped big time in the last one year, so MI would be aware of that. Quite a few things go on when you have to make the first four picks before the auction. So, I feel they would look at the longevity and think – can we invest in Hardik Pandya or in Ishan Kishan? The future. Looking at that, they might go for Ishan Kishan and then maybe Hardik Pandya,” said Pathan.
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