IPL 2022: DC to retain Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw but releases Shikhar Dhawan

IPL 2022’s last date to finalize the retained players is knocking the door. As per reports, Delhi Capitals (DC) has made their retained players list. Shikhar Dhawan who scored the highest for the team won’t be retained. Players like Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Axar Patel and Anrich Nortje are going to be kept by the team.

The Source informed “Rishabh Pant will lead Delhi Capitals in the coming season. Team has decided to let go Shreyas Iyer, Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada & have decided to retain Prithvi Shaw & Axar Patel”

Shikhar Dhawan has been one of the highest run scorers in the history of IPL. For Delhi Capitals (DC), he has played extremely well both in IPL 2020 and IPL 2022.

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What made the management not retain Shikhar Dhawan in IPL 2022?

In IPL 2020, he made 618 runs at an average of 44.14 and strike rate of 144.73

In IPL 2021, he made 587 runs at an average of 39.13 and strike rate of 124.62

What made the team management not retain him?

well it’s his increasing age and falling strike rate that made him lose the position.

A team management official in his statement told “Shikhar is now almost 36. Players are getting retained for the next 3 seasons & the franchise wanted to retain those players who can serve the team for the next 3 years. Moreover Dhawan’s strike-rate also has been area of concern. Last year he scored, but he wasn’t that fluent. This is the reason DC decided to invest on the younger players”

The franchise believes that the four retained players are young and will be a good investment for the team. Four of them can continue playing for a tenure of 3 years.

The Delhi management has also not kept their most successful spinners like R.Ashwin and Amit Mishra. Shreyas Iyer who captained the team, won’t remain the skipper for the next season.

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