The Player Retention announcement for the 2018 edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament will take place on Thursday January 4. Every team has a chance of retaining a maximum of three players.
The IPL auction day, meanwhile, gives a chance to the teams to retain their other two players via the Right to Match (RTM) card. The IPL Auction dates are January 27 and 28.
The limit of retaining players, from both the player retention event and the auction event combined, is five.
The likes of MS Dhoni going back to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Virat Kohli staying put at Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), are almost certain. Even if teams do not want to retain any player on Thursday, they have the option to use the RTM card for five players on auction day.
This time around, with "Star India" coming aboard as the broadcasters of the cash-rich cricket league, every single IPL event is set to be shown on TV.
Star India bagged the IPL media rights last September for a period of 5 years, from 2018 to 2022. They paid a whopping Rs 16,347.50 crore, to bag the media rights, keeping former IPL broadcasters Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI), at bay.
Now "Star Sports" is set to show the player retentions on Thursday.
Broadcast details of the IPL Player Retention event
Date: January 4
Time: 6:50 pm IST onwards
TV channels: Star Sports 2/HD, Star Sports Hindi 1/HD
Live streaming is also set to be available at Hotstar.
Hi! Do catch IPL Retention Special on January 4 from 6:50 PM onwards on Star Sports 2/2 HD and 1 Hindi/1 HD Hindi.
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) January 2, 2018
This is a major renaissance since previous years, when the player retention only used to be learnt via formal e-mails from the IPL franchises to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
