Rajasthan retain Warne and Watson

Rajasthan Royals have retained their captain Shane Warne and Australian allrounder Shane Watson ahead of the 2011 season of the IPL, a top franchise official has said.

He also said they were in negotiations with a couple of Indian players ahead of the December 8 deadline for teams to nominate players they wish to keep from going into the auction.  Each franchise is allowed to retain up to four players, of which no more than three can be Indian.  “We are extremely happy to have signed on Shane Warne and Shane Watson,” Raghu Iyer, the Rajasthan spokesman, told ESPNcricinfo.  “Both of them have been an important part of the Royals.

Watson was the Player of the Tournament in the first season and Warne’s leadership skills are what everybody talks about.” Rajasthan will lose $1.8 million per year from the auction pool for the first player retained and $1.3 million per year for the second player.

Warne led Rajasthan to an unlikely title in 2008, the IPL’s first season.

He was the league’s second highest wicket-taker, with 19 wickets at an average of 21.26, while Watson scored 472 runs at an average of 47.20 and a strike-rate of 151.76, and also took 17 wickets at an average of 22.52.  Both players had expressed their disappointment after Rajasthan were expelled from the IPL on October 10 by the BCCI.  The franchise responded to its termination by taking the BCCI to court, and the case went to arbitration.

Mumbai keep Malinga for two more seasons

Mumbai Indians have informed the BCCI-owned Indian Premier League that they were retaining four players Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, West Indian Kieron Pollard and Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga for the next two seasons.

“Mumbai Indians have confirmed that we are retaining two players -- Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh -- among Indians and two foreign players -- Kieron Pollard and Lasith Malinga,” a MI spokesperson told PTI today.

The MI official also claimed that the franchisees have the option of retaining more than one foreigner in their squad as per the decision of the IPL governing council on retention of players.