The announcement of the Indian Premier League retained players’ list has turned out to be a bonanza for Australia’s Test captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner.
Both the batsmen were the top retentions for their respective franchises when the announcements were made on Thursday.
David Warner was Sunrisers Hyderabad’s top-pick after leading the side to the title in 2016. The southpaw is the highest-scoring overseas player in the decade long competition with over 4,000 runs under his belt.
Smith was the only player to be retained by the Rajasthan Royals who return to the fray after serving their two-year suspension. He had plied his trade for the Rising Pune Super Giants during their absence.
Both the Aussies are now set to pocket a handsome $2.4million each courtesy of being the top retentions for their teams. This is twice the salary they had received in the previous edition as is now more than what they earn through their central contracts with Cricket Australia.
Warner had led Sunrisers Hyderabad to the IPL title in 2016.
Smith and Warner are currently on $2m and $1.4m base retainers respectively for their national team. The due now become the highest paid Aussies in the history of the competition.
With the retained players now announced, all eyes will now be on the IPL auction set to take place on the January 27 and 28 where the rest of the lineups for the 10 franchises will be completed.
The likes of England star Ben Stokes, Glenn Maxwell, Chris Gayle and Colin Munro will all be among the attractions in the auctions.
