Retention questions: Why can Dhoni be retained for only Rs 4 crore? What’s the fate of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma? Will RCB use RTM on Maxwell?

Kolkata Knight Riders: The defending champions are a big fan of RTMs. So the question now is whether they retain the likes of Andre Russell, Mitchell Starc, Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy or they release everyone and use the RTM option. If they chose to retain, then they could end up having more overseas players as well.

Delhi Capitals: They are among the ones seeking a fresh start, but they are expected to retain at least three players: Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav. Among overseas players, Jake Fraser-McGurk and Tristan Stubbs could interest them.

Gujarat Titans: They were among the teams interested in continuity and it makes it easy for them as well. Shubman Gill and Rashid Khan could be retained at Rs 18 crore each. For the finisher’s role they can keep David Miller. For uncapped players, they can slot in Rahul Tewatia and because of the rule tweak even Mohit Sharma can be kept for Rs 4 crore. If not they can retain Sai Sudharsan, a quality opener.

Lucknow SuperGiants: Would be interesting to see how they go about it. There is a strong chance that they will retain Nicholas Pooran at the highest bracket and take the RTM route. But in Quinton de Kock, Ravi Bishnoi, Mark Wood and Krunal Pandya, LSG have quality players to retain. Have to take a call on KL Rahul as well.

Mumbai Indians: They look set to retain the core and the new retention value only makes it easier to keep their star players happy. They can retain Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav for Rs 18 crore each. Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma can be retained for Rs 14 crore each. One of Ishan Kishan, Tim David and Nuwan Thushara can be kept for Rs 11 crore. Among uncapped players, Nehal Wadhera and Naman Dhir are also in with a chance as they are products of their scouting system.

Ahead of the upcoming season, the biggest call for the Lucknow SuperGiants franchise is that of captain KL Rahul. (Sportzpics)

Punjab Kings: All things point to them pressing the restart button under new head coach Ricky Ponting. They can retain Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma in uncapped category and can retain Liam Livingstone and Arshdeep Singh. They could also surprise by preferring to use as many RTMs as possible.

Rajasthan Royals: In Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Rovman Powell, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, they have a headache on who to retain and at what cost. They also have the option of retaining Sandeep Sharma as an uncapped player. They could retain Samson, Buttler, Jaiswal and Sandeep and use two RTMs. But they are spoilt for choice.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli will take the top bracket. But what RCB do thereafter is the question. Given their challenges at home, it would be interesting to see whether they retain Yash Dayal and Mohammed Siraj who are familiar with the pitch. They can always use RTMs on Glenn Maxwell and Will Jacks.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Can retain their core without breaking a sweat. Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen, Pat Cummins and Abhishek Sharma look good to stay. At what price is the question that they have to take. They have the option of retaining Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan as well. If not they can always take them back with RTMs.