Exactly a week before the retention deadline ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction next month, there is a heightened sense of excitement and speculation about which players will be retained, RTM-ed and which not. The prevailing narrative is a complex blend of imagination, exaggerations, carefully calibrated leaks, and fiction.

In the midst of all the frenzy, there remains an element of truth too. The three headline-grabbing names dominating the retention narrative are Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Shreyas Iyer. Each presents a complex situation, with franchises treading cautiously with the narrative dictated not necessarily by facts, and keeping their options close to the chest.

In Pant’s case, all options remain open for the three parties involved – the player, along with the two co-owners of Delhi Capitals: GMR Group and JSW Group. With his late-night social media post on October 12, Pant has certainly complicated the situation. His probing post – “If I go to the auction, will I be sold or not, and for how much?” – isn’t merely about his market value.

He was testing the waters in an uncharted area, subtly sending a signal to the team owners who, incidentally, will have the final say. The post certainly got them stumped but reality is totally different. They can always flash the RTM (Right to Match) card or seriously hurt the purse of the competing team if the price is arbitrarily taken to an unaffordable level through the new RTM clause.

Indications are that both GMR and JSW, the co-owners of Delhi Capitals, are keen to retain Pant unless the situation spirals out to a point of no return. They have viewed his social media post as an impulsive reaction from a young player and have tried to shrug it off.

In the meetings with the owners, Pant reportedly made several demands regarding the coaching staff and team composition. One of his requests was to bring a star former India player on board as a mentor/head coach, but the GMR group, which currently runs the franchise, had already finalized Y Venugopal Rao and Hemang Badani as part of the coaching staff by then.

There is a conscious attempt by the GMR group to not have high-profile coaching staff. Whether Rao and Badani can fill the shoes of Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting, who were part of the Delhi coaching staff for the last two years, is a different debate. The perception in the current management is that the name suggested by Pant may not exactly align with the thinking of the setup.

There may also have been some disagreements over the retention amount, but there is a line of thinking that Pant’s performances in red-ball and white-ball cricket present different graphs. These points were discussed in the meetings with the owners, who feel that the media has taken the situation to another level by pushing an inaccurate narrative.

KL Rahul & LSG

In the case of Rahul, there appears to be an element of finality, as he is set to be released by the Lucknow Super Giants management. The LSG think tank, comprising mentor Zaheer Khan and head coach Justin Langer, has concerns about his batting style, strike rate, batting position, and leadership. During his visit to Kolkata last month, Rahul expressed a desire to bat in the middle order, something he had wanted last year too but that move never materialized because of the team composition and dynamics. He continued to open.

Rahul, who is going through a torrid phase in his career, is also believed to be wanting to leave the franchise, making the separation mutually acceptable and allowing LSG to keep Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, and Ayush Badoni, the latter two being uncapped retentions. While LSG have the option to exercise the RTM for Rahul, the chances of that happening are remote – virtually nil. They may do it for a player like Marcus Stoinis.

The Shreyas Iyer situation

The situation with Shreyas Iyer is somewhat different. If they had their way, the Kolkata Knight Riders management would prefer to keep the captain, who won the championship for them, but they are debating whether he can be one of the five high-performing capped players who deserve retention. The presence of ‘retainable’ players like Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Phil Salt, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer limits the management’s options. Only five capped players can be retained.

At the owners’ meeting with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in July, Shah Rukh Khan had vocally argued for a system of only RTMs and no retentions. The management, led by the experienced Venky Mysore, who is known to be good at managing players, is currently weighing options for whom they can RTM and whom they can retain.

Parthiv Patel at GT

Meanwhile, Parthiv Patel has joined Gujarat Titans as the batting cum assistant coach, replacing Mithun Manhas, who has left the franchise. There appears to be a vacancy for the mentor role, previously held by Gary Kirsten. It’s reported that the names of Yuvraj Singh and Ajay Jadeja – both supported by influential figures within the team – were discussed, but neither could be finalized.

The talk in the IPL meanwhile is about the team’s talent scouting efforts, as their scouts were seen at the red-ball Ranji games. With the white-ball Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament not taking place before the IPL auction, the scouts have little choice but to attend the Ranji games in search of talent. But can they find one for the IPL in the Ranji Trophy?