IPL 2021 Retention Highlights: RR release Smith and name Samson as captain; MI part ways with Malinga

All eight franchises on Wednesday released the list of retained players for the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League. Rajasthan Royals released their captain of 2020 edition - Steve Smith and appointed Sanju Samson as their new leader. Mumbai Indians parted ways with veteran pacer Lasith Malinga while CSK released Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawala and Shane Watson. Check out the fresh squads of all teams.

Follow all the updates here:

• JAN 20, 2021 07:02 PM IST

  Rajasthan Royals: List of retained and released players

  Retained players: Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Kartik Tyagi, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Robin Uthappa.

  
  

  Released Players: Steve Smith, Ankit Rajpoot, Oshane Thomas, Akash Singh, Varun Aaron, Tom Curran, Anirudha Joshi, Shashank Singh.

• JAN 20, 2021 07:01 PM IST

  Kumar Sangakkara - RR's new team director

  Rajasthan Royals' co-owner on Wednesday confirmed that former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara has been roped in as their team director for IPL 2021.

• JAN 20, 2021 06:54 PM IST

  Kings XI Punjab: List of retained players

  KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Prabhsimran Singh, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel

• JAN 20, 2021 06:52 PM IST

  Mumbai Indians list of released and retained players

  Released: Lasith Malinga, Mitch McClenaghan, James Pattinson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Sherfane Rutherford, Prince Balwant Rai, Digivijay Deshmukh

  
  

  Retained: Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (WK), Chris Lynn, Anmolpreet Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Aditya Tare (WK), Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan

• JAN 20, 2021 06:46 PM IST

  Sunrisers Hyderabad retained squad

  David Warner (C)

  Kane Willaimson

  Manish Pandey

  Jonny Bairstow

  Wriddhiman Saha

  Shreevats Goswami

  Priyam Garg

  Virat Singh

  Rashid Khan

  Vijay Shankar

  Mohammad Nabi

  Abhishek Sharma

  Mithcell Marsh

  Jason Holder

  Abdul Samad

  T Natarajan

  Khaleel Ahmed

  Sandeep Sharma

  Basil Thampi

  Shahbaz Nadeem

  Siddharth Kaul

  Bhuvneshwar Kumar

• JAN 20, 2021 06:35 PM IST

  CSK's retained squad

  MS Dhoni

  Suresh Raina

  Faf du Plessis

  Sam Curran

  Josh Hazlewood

  DJ Bravo

  Lungi Ngidi

  Karn Sharma

  Ambati Rayudu

  Mithcell Santner

  Shardul Thakur

  Ruturaj Gaikwad

  N Jagadeesan

  Imran Tahir

  Deepak Chahar

  KM Asif

  R Sai Kishore

• JAN 20, 2021 06:32 PM IST

  Kolkata Knight Riders Squad after retention

  Dinesh Karthik

  Nitish Rana

  Shubman Gill

  Rinku Singh

  Eoin Morgan

  Rahul Tripathi

  Sunil Narine

  Andre Russell

  Pat Cummins

  Varun Chakravarthy

  Lockie Ferguson

  Kuldeep Yadav

  Kamlesh Nagarkoti

  Shivam Mavi

  Prasidh Krishna

  Harry Gurney

  Sandeep Warrier

• JAN 20, 2021 06:29 PM IST

  DC Squad after retention

  Shikhar Dhawan

  Prithvi Shaw

  Ajinkya Rahane

  Rishabh Pant

  Shreyas Iyer

  Axar Patel

  Amit Mishra

  Ishant Sharma

  Ravichandran Ashwin

  Lalit Yadav

  Harshal Patel

  Avesh Khan

  Pravin Dubey

  Kagiso Rabada

  Anrich Nortje

  Marcus Stoinis

  Shimron Hetmyer

  Chris Woakes

  Daniel Sams

• JAN 20, 2021 06:26 PM IST

  Moeen Ali, Isuru Udana released from RCB

  Moeen Ali

  Shivam Dube

  Gurkeerat Singh Mann

  Aaron Finch

  Chris Morris

  Pawan Negi

  Parthiv Patel (retired)

  Dale Steyn (unavailable)

  Isuru Udana

  Umesh Yadav

• JAN 20, 2021 06:24 PM IST

  Delhi Capitals release Carey, Lamichhane and five others

  Keemo Paul

  Alex Carey

  Sandeep Lamichhane

  Harshal Patel

  Daniel Sams

  Mohit Sharma

  Tushar Deshpande

• JAN 20, 2021 06:19 PM IST

  Sunrisers Hyderabad release five players

  Billy Stanlake

  Fabian Allen

  Sanjay Yadav

  B Sandeep

  Y Prithvi Raj

• JAN 20, 2021 06:14 PM IST

  Rajasthan Royals name Sanju Samson as captain

  Rajasthan Royals have made a major change to their side. They have released Australian batsman Steve Smith and named Sanju Samson as their new captain.

• JAN 20, 2021 06:10 PM IST

  CSK release Harbhajan Singh, Shane Watson

  Thank you for all the #Yellove outings, Bhajju pa! Keep spreading the Pulamai, everywhere you go! #WhistlePodu 💛🦁@harbhajan_singh pic.twitter.com/J4xu8dnVZ8

  — Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) January 20, 2021

  Chennai Super Kings have released Piyush Chawla, Kedar Jadhav, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Monu Kumar Singh, and Shane Watson.

• JAN 20, 2021 06:01 PM IST

  RCB's retention explained by Mike Hesson

  Bold Diaries: Mike Hesson explains RCB’s Retention Strategy
  
  Our Director of Cricket Operations, @CoachHesson gives us an insight into the thinking behind the retention and release of players. #PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/GbcY5oCyiW

  — Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) January 20, 2021

  Royal Challenger Bangalore's Director of Cricket Operations Mike Hesson explains team's retention strategy.

• JAN 20, 2021 05:51 PM IST

  KXIP release Maxwell

  So here comes the big news from the Kings XI Punjab Camp. As reported by ESPN Cricinfo, the franchise has decided to release the Australian all-rounder.

  The report further states that Sheldon Cottrell, K Gowtham, Mueeb ur Rahman, Jimmy Neesham, Hardus Viljoen and Karun Nair are among the released players.

• JAN 20, 2021 05:48 PM IST

  A hint from CSK on IPL 2021 retention

  According to Leo, #Yellove finish with SIX and bid adieu emotions, coming soon! #StayTuned 🦁💛

  — Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) January 20, 2021

• JAN 20, 2021 05:46 PM IST

  Will KXIP retain Glenn Maxwell?

  Only one thing on their minds today - RETENTION! 🤩
  
  Which Kings you want us to retain? ⤵️#SaddaPunjab pic.twitter.com/v2L54tUrEH

  — Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) January 20, 2021

  It will be a tough choice to make for Kings XI Punjab whether to keep Maxwell or let him go. The all-rounder mauled the Indians in the limited-overs series Down Under in November last year. But before that, he had one his worst seasons for the franchise in IPL 2020.

  He not only failed to score a single fifty-plus score but also didn't smash a single six in the entire season.

• JAN 20, 2021 05:42 PM IST

  KKR captain Eoin Morgan speaks

  Morgan on KKR’s Retention Wishlist: “Would be brilliant if we could keep everyone together.”
  
  Agree with skipper @Eoin16 about retaining the core?#KKR #IPLRetention pic.twitter.com/YfmFgf5KiR

  — KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) January 20, 2021

• JAN 20, 2021 05:37 PM IST

  RCB's list of retained players

  1. Virat Kohli
  2. AB de Villiers
  3. Yuzvendra Chahal
  4. Devdutt Padikkal
  5. Washington Sundar
  6. Mohammed Siraj
  7. Navdeep Saini
  8. Adam Zampa
  9. Shahbaz Ahmed
  10. Josh Philippe
  11. Kane Richardson
  12. Pawan Deshpande
• JAN 20, 2021 05:33 PM IST

  RCB retain 12 players from 2020 squad

  IPL Retention Announcement 🔊 Here’s the news you’ve been waiting for, 12th Man Army. We have retained 12 stars from our 2020 squad. 🌟🤩#PlayBold #IPL2021 #WeAreChallengers pic.twitter.com/YkzSV3EUjU

  — Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) January 20, 2021

• JAN 20, 2021 05:29 PM IST

  Dale Steyn opted out of IPL 2021

  Cricket tweet 🏏
  
  Just a short message to let everyone know that I’ve made myself unavailable for RCB at this years IPL, I’m also not planning on playing for another team, just taking some time off during that period.
  
  Thank you to RCB for understanding.
  
  No I’m not retired. 🤙

  — Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) January 2, 2021

  Earlier this months, veteran South African speedster Dale Steyn announced that he won't be featuring in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League. He stated that he was taking some time off, clarifying that he isn't retiring.

• JAN 20, 2021 05:25 PM IST

  CSK retain Suresh Raina, reports ESPN Cricinfo

  Former Indian all-rounder Suresh Raina would be retained by Chennai Super Kings, reports ESPN Cricinfo. He has been an integral part of the franchise and their highest run-getter as well.

  Raina also made an early exit from IPL 2020 due to personal reasons. He returned home after joining the side in a bio-secure protocol in the UAE.

• JAN 20, 2021 05:17 PM IST

  Harbhajan Singh's contract with CSK comes to an end

  On Wednesday morning, veteran Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh informed through a tweet that his 2-year contract with Chennai Super Kings has come to an end.

  Harbhajan opted out of the IPL 2020 citing family reasons. His last match with CSK was the IPL 2019 final against MI where the Chennai-based franchise lost to MI by one run.

• JAN 20, 2021 05:12 PM IST

  Rajasthan Royals release captain Steve Smith: PTI

  IPL team Rajasthan Royals releases captain Steve Smith from squad after the Australian's contract expired

  — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 20, 2021

• JAN 20, 2021 05:08 PM IST

  All you need to know about balance purse

  Let's have a look the balance left in the purses of every franchises

  Chennai Super Kings: ₹0.15 crore

  Kings XI Punjab: ₹16.5 crore

  Rajasthan Royals: ₹14.75 crore

  Sunrisers Hyderabad: ₹10.1 crore

  Delhi Capitals: ₹9 crore

  Kolkata Knight Riders: ₹8.5 crore

  Royal Challengers Bangalore: ₹6.4 crore

  Mumbai Indians: ₹1.95 crore

• JAN 20, 2021 05:03 PM IST

  IPL 2021 Retention Live Updates

  Hello and welcome to the Live Blog of the IPL 2021 players retention. The 13th edition of the cash-rich tournament had ended a few months back and here we are to witness the next season shaping up. In the next few hours, all the franchises will release the list of retained players. The anticipation among the fans will be no less than that of an IPL auction. Who goes out, who remains in the team? Well, we have to wait and watch.