The deadline day for IPL retention is inching closer and the anticipation among fans is at an all time high over which players will stick around with their franchises and who will head into the Mega auction slated for later this year. 

Ahead of the retentions, Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting has endorsed his admiration for star Rajasthan Royals batter hinting, that the franchise could be weighing up a move for him. v

Ricky Ponting endorses RR star ahead of Retentions 

Ricky Ponting has taken over as the new head coach of Punjab Kings and will be looking to build a solid core of players come auction to finally be able guide Punjab to playoffs next season. 

Ahead of IPL retentions, Ponting recently sat down with Star Sports and talked about his favourite Indian players. The Australian World Cup winning captain took the names of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as his favourite players. 

But interestingly, Ricky Ponting named Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson as one of his favourite Indian players and the way he bats in T20s. 

“There are a lot Indian players I like to watch – Rohit, Gill, Pant, then there is Virat – There is a guy called Sanju Samson, I don’t  know how much you seen him, I love watching him bat and go about business in T20s,” said Ricky Ponting.

While, Ponting remained tight lipped over Punjab Kings retentions, there had been chatter that Samson might enter auction., If Sanju Samson does enter the auction, then Punjab could very well go all in for the RR captain. 

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Who will Punjab Kings retain ahead of IPL auction?

There’s a lot of intrigue surrounding the players, Punjab Kings would retain ahead of IPL retentions. With options like Liam Livingstone, Arshdeep Singh, Sam Curran in their ranks, Punjab need to weigh up whether or not any player is worth 18 crores or 14 crore. 

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Reports suggest, Punjab Kings might only retain two uncapped players and go into the auction with 4 Right to Match cards (RTM). The IPL retentions will be announced on October 31st, 2024.