Cricket: Take a look at the players retained by IPL franchises ahead of mega auction

Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni were predictably retained by their respective IPL teams while Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, KL Rahul and Yuzvendra Chahal were among the big names to be released ahead of the mega auction.

Royal Challengers Bangalore retained their former captain Kohli alongside Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj. Even before the players' retention deadline, it was a given that Mumbai Indians would retain India's T20 captain Rohit Sharma and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.

India's greatest white-ball skipper and Chennai Super Kings talisman Mahendra Singh Dhoni is his team's second retention behind all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja while Ruturaj Gaikwad is the fourth name in the list.

Moeen Ali has also been retained by CSK. The major names to be released are out-of-form all-rounder Hardik Pandya and dashing keeper batter Ishan Kishan, who has been a part of Mumbai Indians core while leg-spinner Chahal and Purple Cap winner Harshal Patel have been released by RCB. It must be noted that Virat Kohli from his previous salary of Rs 17 crore has taken a pay cut and will be paid Rs 15 crore.

"The journey continues and I had no second thoughts in staying back for another three years. The management has been amazing and I am grateful and excited. Our best is yet to come," said Kohli, who stepped down from captaincy after the last edition.

MI skipper Rohit said that it doesn't feel nice that auction rules made them release players who have had such amazing contributions to MI's five titles. "It was going to be toughest retention for MI. Solid, gun players and to let them go was really really tough," Rohit said.

It must be mentioned that the price at which the players are retained is not the price that will be deducted from the purse. Purse deductions of Rs 16 crore, 12 crore, Rs 8 crore and Rs 6 crore for four players is set by BCCI. In case of three players, Rs 28 crore is the standard deduction while for two players it is Rs 18 crore.

The teams whose players' price and purse deducted match are Mumbai Indians and CSK. MI are paying Rs 16 crore for Rohit, Rs 12 crore for Bumrah, Rs 8 crore for Surya and Rs 6 crore for Kieron Pollard and will go into mega auction with Rs 48 crore out of purse of Rs 90 crore.

However, KKR has also retained players but is paying them Rs 34 crore in all with Andre Russell getting Rs 12 crore and the Indian duo of Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy getting Rs 8 crore each. Sunil Narine would be paid Rs 6 crore, making it a total of Rs 34 crore.

However, the purse deducted would still be Rs 42 crore and tey would go into auction with Rs 48 crore. Punjab Kings released their last year's skipper KL Rahul, while SRH retained Kane Williamson and released star spinner Rashid Khan and David Warner, who had a massive fallout with the coaching staff. One of the major names to be released by KKR is Test team specialist Shubman Gill, who at one time was being thought as a potential future captain of the franchise.

Delhi Capitals, who were the first to release their list long ago, had skipper Rishabh Pant as their No 1 choice followed by Axar Patel for his all-around package and flamboyant opener Prithvi Shaw is the third Indian in the list. The fourth name is South African speed demon Anrich Nortje while Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan and Marcus Stoinis are some of the big names released.

Rajasthan Royals made three retentions which include Sanju Samson as the first choice while Jos Buttler and uncapped Yashasvi Jaiswal are their second and third retentions. It effectively means that Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer are now back in the auction pool and will be sought after. Along with them, Rahul, who is likely to be the biggest buy along with Rashid Khan.

Pandya brothers Hardik and Krunal, opener Shikhar Dhawan, seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, leg-spinner Chahal, Rabada, Harshal, Shreyas Iyer will also be the ones for whom franchises will like to break the bank. From December 1, Lucknow and Ahmedabad get 25 days to choose their three players from the list that will be provided by IPL.

The list will be prepared after speaking to the players and only if they agree their names will be put in the list else they will straight go into the auction.

Full list of retained players with price in INR:

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (16 crore), Jasprit Bumrah (12 crore), Suryakumar Yadav(8 crore), Kieron Pollard (6 crore). Auction Purse: 48 crore

Chennai Super Kings: Ravindra Jadeja (16 crore), MS Dhoni (12 crore), Moeen Ali (8 crore), Ruturaj Gaikwad (6 crore). Auction Purse 48 crore

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (15 crore), Glenn Maxwell (11 crore), Mohammed Siraj (7 crore). Auction Purse: Rs 57 crore

Punjab Kings: Mayank Agarwal (12 crore, 14 crore to be deducted from overall purse) and Arshdeep Singh (4 crore). Auction PUrse: Rs 72 crore

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson (14 crore), Abdul Samad (4 crore), Umran Malik (4 crore). Auction Purse: Rs 68 crore

Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (14 crore), Jos Buttler (10 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (4 crore). Auction Purse: Rs 68 crore

Kolkata Knight Riders: Andre Russell (12 crore, 16 crore to be deducted from purse), Varun Chakravarthy (8 crore, 12 crore to be deducted from purse), Venkatesh Iyer (8 crore), Sunil Narine (6 crore). Auction Purse: Rs 48 crore

Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant (16 crore), Axar Patel (9 crore, 12 crore to be deducted from purse), Prithvi Shaw (7.5 crore, 8 crore to be deducted from purse), Anrich Nortje (6.5 crore). Auction Purse: Rs 47.5 crore