Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh wants the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders to retain Rinku Singh ahead of the IPL mega auction. Singh scored 474 runs in 14 matches of IPL 2023 at an average of 59.23 and a strike rate of 149.53 and he was one of the biggest positives for KKR. The southpaw also scored four fifties in the season for KKR.

However, the left-hander didn’t get a lot of opportunities to bat in IPL 2024 as he was pushed down the order. Singh scored 168 runs in 11 innings at an average of 18.67 and a strike rate of 148.67.

The Turbanator feels KKR will retain their skipper Shreyas Iyer, wicket-keeper bat Phil Salt, and West Indies all-rounders Sunil Narine and Andre Russell.

Harbhajan Singh said on Star Sports, “KKR dominated the entire season, so it will be difficult for them to leave or retain anyone. But it’s a matter of retention, so you only have limited numbers that you can retain. If I want to see or if I have to choose my 6 players, which 6 players will be there for KKR? I think Shreyas Iyer will be there, Phil Salt will be there, Narine will be there, Andre Russell will be there, Rinku Singh will be there.

Every team can retain a maximum of six players and Harbhajan wants KKR to retain Rinku Singh as the fifth player.

“I will definitely want to see Rinku Singh. He should be the 5th player to be retained,” the 44-year-old went on to add.

Meanwhile, the former off-spinner feels Ramandeep Singh could be retained as an uncapped player by the reigning champions.

“And if we talk about one more player, who is the last player to be retained? It could be Ramandeep Singh. He is an uncapped player. I think he should be retained. He played very well last year and I have seen his performance in domestic cricket this year as well. So I think this 6th player, Knight Rider, will be retained.”

All 10 franchises are set to release their retention list before 5 PM, 31st October.