Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson to be retained as captains: Former India Pacer disregards DC and RR’s IPL plans

RP Singh expects Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson to be retained as captains by Delhi Capitals (DC) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction.

The former India left-arm fast bowler also feels that big striker Jake Fraser-McGurk will be picked up by DC. Fraser-McGurk has been widely seen as David Warner’s successor as an opener after he made a brilliant 330 runs at an astonishing strike rate of 234.04 during this year’s IPL for Delhi Capitals.

Although he had a poor start to his T20I career for Australia after Warner retired from international cricket in this year’s T20 World Cup, Fraser-McGurk hit a fifty against England in the T20I in Cardiff, reminding everyone of the potential which makes him a retention candidate for the Capitals.

“Jake Fraser-McGurk will definitely stay due to his unique style of play and the impact he has had on this franchise. Rishabh Pant will be retained as captain. The two spinners, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, will stay. For the rest, you can use RTM because many franchises will launch players with the hope of using RTM,” Singh told JioCinema.

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He also shared his list of preferred retainers for Rajasthan’s royals. “Sanju Samson will be retained as captain, Yashasvi Jaiswal will be number 2, Riyan Parag will remain at number 3, Jos Buttler at number 4 and the fifth will be either Yuzvendra Chahal or Trent Boult.

“Boult is a great option, but I would prefer Chahal. RTM is an option but I think keeping Sandeep Sharma as an uncapped player will make it easier for them as he has performed well as a bowler.

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October 31 is the deadline for teams to finalize their retentions ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. The ten IPL franchises can retain up to six players from their IPL 2024 squad, including a maximum of five capped players (Indian and foreign) and a maximum of two uncapped players.

(With contributions from agencies)