Last weekend, the IPL franchises announced their lists of the retained and released players ahead of the IPL 2024 auction.
The franchises have looked to retain their experienced players, some of them are even of age over 35. It has been proved time and again in the IPL, that players on the wrong side of their 30s could also make huge contributions and lead their side to victories. Experience matters a lot in a high-pressure tournament such as the IPL as their calm temperament and the knowledge of having been in such situations before comes to the fore.
In fact, a proper, strong playing XI can be made of the players who are above age 35 and have been retained by their franchises for the IPL 2024 season.
We start with the openers: Mumbai Indians opener and captain Rohit Sharma joined David Warner, who was the skipper of Delhi Capitals last season. Warner and Rohit are the 4th and 5th highest run-scorers in the IPL history respectively. They are followed by the RCB duo of Virat Kohli, who is the IPL all-time top run-scorer, and Glenn Maxwell, who is one of the deadliest white-ball batsmen in the world.
Next is the Chennai Super Kings pair of Ravindra Jadeja and skipper MS Dhoni, who, at the age of 42, is the oldest player in IPL 2024. Dhoni has led CSK to five IPL titles, and the IPL 2024 is very likely to be his last IPL season.
Moving to the lower-order, we have picked two spin-bowling all-rounders. Sunil Narine is an IPL veteran and a T20 great, who is retained by KKR. Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza last year made his IPL debut for Punjab Kings and has been retained.
Fast bowler Ishan Sharma is still going strong for the Delhi Capitals at the age of 35, while Amit Mishra made impact for LSG on the Lucknow surface, and he is aged 41.
IPL 2024: The Best XI Of Retained Players Who Above 35 Years Of Age:
- Rohit Sharma
- David Warner
- Virat Kohli
- Glenn Maxwell
- Ravindra Jadeja
- MS Dhoni (C, wk)
- Sikandar Raza
- Sunil Narine
- Ishant Sharma
- R Ashwin
- Amit Mishra
