Here’s how GT would line up against MI:

Wriddhiman Saha has been in excellent form after being assigned the responsibility of opening the batting with Shubman Gill. However, in order to secure his spot in a competitive GT squad, the wicket-keeper batsman will have to keep up the fine job.

Shubman Gill: GT has been concerned about the youngster’s erratic performance. In ten games, the batter has scored 269 runs, including two 50-run games.

Sai Sudharsan: After a brave fifty in the previous game, he received a lot of acclaim and would look to duplicate it against MI.

Hardik Pandya: He has been the team’s backbone. His bat versatility has aided the club in a variety of ways. The hitter has not only handled the pressure of seeing out early overs with the loss of rapid wickets, but he has also concluded in style with powerful strokes.

David Miller: Since being given a long run in the starting XI, the South African has continued to live up to the finisher’s job. His ability to bat in the bottom of the order has been a huge asset to the squad.

Rahul Tewatia: He struggled to get going against PBKS, which was an unusual failure. His batting struggles included 11 runs in 13 balls.

Rashid Khan: The leg-spinner has impressed with the ball thus far, but the squad would like to see more from Rashid, the hitter. He wants to forget about his recent loss against PBKS (golden duck) and start over.

Vijay Shankar: The all-rounder could take over for Sangwan, who struggled in his two overs against PBKS. Pandya may be forced to send in Shankar after the latter allowed 23 runs in 12 balls.

Alzarri Joseph: Joseph struggled with the bat, conceding 25 runs in 18 balls against PBKS. In the upcoming matches, the bowler hopes to add to his wicket total.

Lockie Ferguson: Ferguson’s pace has plagued even the best batters, and the fast bowler can certainly target the MI batting line-up for wickets. This season, the Kiwi pacer has consistently clocked 150 kph.

Mohammed Shami: Despite a strong start against PBKS, Liam Livingstone took him to task. However, considering his ability, he should be able to rebound against MI.

In a stern assessment of SRH and Team India bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Manjrekar said that India should look at options going forward and that Arshdeep “is a much better bowler to have in your T20 side” than Kumar. Manjrekar also felt that Arshdeep could be a better choice currently as Bhuvneshwar is not in his best form.

“India keeps going back to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a wonderful bowler but today if you were to compare Bhuneshwar and Arshdeep, the latter is a much better bowler to have in your T20 side. Certainly, in the top five, certainly a place in the squad. He must be wondering ‘what more do I have to do?’ because today was another night where you are looking at people like Suryakumar Yadav who must be saying ‘I can’t hit this guy, might as well take off a single’. That is something you do against the (Jasprit) Bumrahs and the (Lasith) Malingas of the past,” he said.

Mayank went on to maintain a strike rate of over 100 throughout his innings, and then took the charge in the 97-run opening stand with Shikhar Dhawan. The right-handed batsman smashed 52 runs in 32 balls at a mammoth strike rate of 162.50 to help Punjab Kings take control in the match. His brilliant batting performance helped PBKS in posting a solid total of 198/5 in 20 overs, setting up a tricky target for the Mumbai Indians to chase at their home ground.

“I am very happy to have contributed to the team’s win,” Mayank, who was named the Player of the Match for his performance, said.

“We knew we needed to get off to a good start and then consolidate. I made sure that we keep the scoring rate high and tried to keep putting pressure on the opposition bowlers. I was happy that we were able to do that and put up a big score. Also, credit to our bowlers who bowled beautifully to defend the total and set up a big win for us against a very strong team,” he added.

Daniel Vettori, a veteran of the game, in his exclusive interview with ESPNcrickinfo, threw light on some of the reasons behind why he thinks several big players were dropped from the team. Vettori said, “for franchise 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.”

Stokes, according to him, is someone who would like to look for a new challenge or a change in scenery that would open up opportunities for him to win the title. At the same time, Jofra Archer’s case is a little different for Vetorri. The former New Zealand skipper believes that Archer’s long spell with injuries could have been on the mind of Rajasthan owners when they decided to drop him. “His injury and workload concerns and that he (Stokes) and Archer play so much cricket, how are they going to be available for the full season and they haven’t been so,” Vettori added.

On the other hand, Punjab Kings has had a different problem altogether. According to Kumble, in a conversation with Star Sports said, “he (Rahul) decided to go into the auction. We respect that, we honour his decision. It’s the player’s prerogative.”

Welcome to #VIVOIPLRetention @RCBTweets have zeroed down on the retention list 👍

What do you make of it? 🤔#VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/77AzHSVPH5

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 30, 2021

First up was RCB, who got the chance to announce their players, and it did not surprise anyone that they chose to go with their legendary batter Virat Kohli, allrounder Glenn Maxwell, and Pace bowler Mohammad Siraj. The exclusion of Yuzvendra Chahal and Harshal Patel perplexed everyone.

The @mipaltan retention list is out!

Comment below and let us know what do you make of it❓#VIVOIPLRetention pic.twitter.com/rzAx6Myw3B

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 30, 2021

Mumbai Indians was the second team to announce their retention. They decided to go with four players to ensure that they had a solid base to form a team around. Their players included Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Surya Kumar Yadav, and Kieron Pollard. It was surprising to see that both the Pandya brothers alongside Trent Boult were not retained.

Here's the @PunjabKingsIPL retention list 👍#VIVOIPLRetention pic.twitter.com/ABl5TWLFhG

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 30, 2021

Punjab Kings have only retained two players in the form of Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh. With KL Rahul opting to head into the mega auction, Punjab Kings did not have many options. However, the exclusion of Ravi Bishnoi and Shahrukh Khan after a great season in the 2021 edition is unexplainable.

Take a look at the @SunRisers retention list 👍#VIVOIPLRetention pic.twitter.com/fXv62OyAkA

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 30, 2021

Last year’s bottom-dwellers, Sunrisers Hyderabad, retained just three players. It was unprecedented to see them going with two uncapped players in the form of Abdul Samad and Umran Malik. They did retain Kane Williamson, who will also be their captain, but they still have a task at hand while heading into the mega auction.

The @ChennaiIPL retention list is out! 👌

Take a look! 👇#VIVOIPLRetention pic.twitter.com/3uyOJeabb6

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 30, 2021

The champions of last year, Chennai Super Kings, were spoilt for choice about whom to retain and whom to let go. But it did not come as a surprise that they chose to retain Ravindra Jadeja, ahead of MS Dhoni. They must be planning to form a team around Jadeja in the coming years. While the other two players retained by CSK were Moeen Ali and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Yet again, Deepak Chahar and Shadul Thakur’s absence from the list will remain a talking point.

How is that for a retention list, @delhicapitals fans❓#VIVOIPLRetention pic.twitter.com/x9dzaWRaCR

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 30, 2021

2020’s finalist Delhi Capitals, who have grown several folds in the past few years, also decided to retain four players. It contained their captain for last season, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, and Anrich Nortje. They, too, left out Kagiso Rabada, Marcus Stoinis, and Ashwin, who have been some of their marquee players in recent years.

Here's @KKRiders's #VIVOIPL retention list 👍#VIVOIPLRetention pic.twitter.com/mc4CKiwxZL

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 30, 2021

Kolkata Knight Riders, who emerged as the dark horse in last year’s IPL, also decided to go with four players. Their first retention was Andre Russel, followed by Venkatesh Iyer, Varun Chakravarthy, and Sunil Narine. They were the only team who decided not to retain their captain, Eoin Morgan. The absence of Shubman Gill from the list was also unexpected.

.@rajasthanroyals fans, what do you make of the retention list? 🤔#VIVOIPLRetention pic.twitter.com/JgrLm09mkv

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 30, 2021

Rajasthan Royals were the last team on the list, and they decided to retain three of their players. The first one on their list was their captain Sanju Samson, followed by explosive batter Jos Buttler and uncapped player Yashasvi Jaiswal. Ben Stokes was missing from the list, perhaps due to his recent absence from the international circuit following an injury.

The team retention has ensured that the mega auction is going to be gigantic. All the ten teams will be going neck to neck to make the most of this auction and set up a team for the coming years.