IPL 2020 Auction: One surprise retention made by each team
With exactly a month remaining before the IPL auction, all the franchises have begun preparations by releasing the list of players they wish to retain for the next season.
All the teams have retained players who have either had a role to play in their last outing or have the potential to make a difference to the franchise in the upcoming season.
However, a few of the retained players haven't offered great returns to their respective IPL teams against their price tag, thereby raising questions concerning their retention this year.
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Here's a look at one surprising retention made by each team ahead of the IPL auction:
#8 Royal Challengers Bangalore - Pawan Negi
Retained players: Virat Kohli, Moeen Ali, Yuzvendra Chahal, Parthiv Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Pawan Negi, Devdutt Padikkal, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Navdeep Saini, and AB de Villiers.
Pawan Negi's retention by the Bangalore franchise came as a surprise to fans. The Delhi all-rounder who was bought back by RCB using an RTM card in 2018, played only 2 matches in the entire season and was still surprisingly retained for IPL 2019.
Yet again in 2019, Negi was part of the squad and was seen warming the bench, making only seven appearances in the entire edition. Even for IPL 2020, despite not making any notable contributions in 2019, Negi has somehow managed to extend his association with the Royal Challengers.
His retention has come as a major surprise every year and the story isn't too different this time around either. For the past two years, he has merely been a spectator, adding no value to the team's campaign. In the past two seasons, Negi has played nine matches for the Kohli-led side, adding only four wickets to his tally. His presence in the side, unfortunately, signifies RCB's policies of believing in quantity over quality.