Former Zealand and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Daniel Vettori has suggested that players don’t want to return to underperforming franchises after the teams announced their retentions earlier this week. Vettori pointed out that two franchises, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab had consistently struggled to keep hold of their stars due to their lack of playoff appearances in recent seasons. Follow Insidesport.in for all IPL 2022 updates.
IPL 2022: Daniel Vettori suggests players don’t want to return to “underperforming” Royals, PBKS
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo on the IPL 2022 retention, Daniel Vettori opined that players don’t want to return to underperforming team suggesting the example of perennial underachievers Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings. The former New Zealand captain picked the example of Ben Stokes, suggesting that the Royals might have wanted to retain him, but the English all-rounder might have opted out and sought a fresh challenge by going into the IPL 2022 mega auction pool.
Daniel Vettori said, “For franchises like Rajasthan and Kings who have been underperforming and perennially out of the playoffs, players don’t always want to come back. They want to explore the opportunities and potentially go to a winning franchise. So someone like Stokes could be that sort of player who may have been in Rajasthan’s plans but might have wanted a fresh challenge, new scenery and a chance to go to a team that has done well in the past.”
Rajasthan Royals, the champions of the inaugural edition, retained three batsmen, in captain Sanju Samson, English wicket-keeper Jos Buttler and young uncapped Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal. Vettori however added that both Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, who missed the IPL 2021, could be opted against retention by the franchise itself, due to their injury and workload management.
IPL 2022: Daniel Vettori suggests players don’t want to return to “underperforming” Royals, PBKS
The former RCB captain added, “That could be one scenario. The other factor is just his injury and workload concerns and that he and Archer play so much cricket, how are they going to be available for full seasons and we have seen in the past that they haven’t been so I am sure that those things play a part,” Vettori added.
Meanwhile, Punjab Kings opted to retain Mayank Agarwal and uncapped Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh, with captain KL Rahul opting to seek a fresh challenge and making his intentions of leaving the franchise. Anil Kumble, the director of cricket operations of PBKS, revealed that the captain had decided to move on.
Speaking on Star Sports, Kumble said: “Obviously we wanted to retain him, that is one of the reasons we chose him as captain two years back. But he decided to go into the auction. We respect that, we honour his decision. It’s the player’s prerogative.”
IPL 2022: Daniel Vettori suggests players don’t want to return to “underperforming” Royals, PBKS
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