New Delhi: In keeping with the trend of major teams retaining key players ahead of the auction for IPL-7, the Rajasthan Royals on Friday said Shane Watson, Ajinkya Rahane, James Faulkner, Stuart Binny and Sanju Samson would stay on their rolls for the new season.
With this being the last day to announce the retained list, RR have chosen to go the loyalty way, making sure the core of the team that lost in the IPL-6 final to the Mumbai Indians here would stay unchanged. The decision clearly has the stamp of now retired captain Rahul Dravid, who will continue to mentor the Jaipur-based unit. Said RR chief executive Raghu Iyer, “As a team, we have been very fortunate to have a number of truly talented cricketers who have come forward to perform at times when it has mattered the most. The five retained players are true match winners, an impressive blend of young talent and experience.
“They have demonstrated resilience, commitment and a great attitude, embodying the spirit of the team. We are confident that under the continued mentorship of the legendary Rahul Dravid the Rajasthan Royals will be a very strong contender in IPL 2014.”
Meanwhile, Kings XI Punjab on the day chose to retain just two from their IPL-6 squad, the relatively unknown Manan Vohra and aggressive South African batsman David Miller. “We are rebuilding the team entirely but both Miller and Vohra were retained since we felt they had done well with us earlier,” a Kings XI official was quoted as saying on cricinfo.
