RCB retains Virat Kohli for a record Rs 17 crore for upcoming IPL season

Royal Challengers Bangalore retained their skipper Virat Kohli for a record Rs 17 crore as the player retention deadline ended on Thursday.

Kohli, a star performer for the RCB, breaks the record of Rs 16 crore for which the KingsXI Punjab had bought Yuvraj Singh two seasons ago.

While most of the player retentions went along expected lines, there were some surprise packages as well.

The most interesting one was RCB retaining young batsman Sarfaraz Khan for Rs 1.75 crore with A B de Villiers being their other retention at Rs 11 crore.

"We are pleased to retain Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Sarfaraz Khan," Amrit Thomas, Chairman of RCB, said in a statement.

"Virat has been a part of Royal Challengers Bangalore since the inception of the league, and is the team’s captain -- on and off the field. The camaraderie and teamwork between Virat and AB de Villiers have been the backbone of the team for several seasons and we want to build on that. Sarfaraz is one of the players we believe will rise to great heights, not just in the IPL but in world cricket,” he added.

As expected the Chennai Super Kings retained M S Dhoni for Rs 15 crore and also kept the services of Suresh Raina (Rs 11 crore) and Ravindra Jadeja (Rs 7 crore).

Mumbai Indians also retained their title-winning skipper Rohit Sharma for Rs 15 crore besides keeping Hardik Pandya (Rs 11 crore) and Jasprit Bumrah (7 crore).

Australian Steve Smith went to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 12 crore while fellow Aussie David Warner was retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 12 crore.