Steyn, Dhawan retained

New Delhi: Sunrisers Hyderabad retained Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan and South African pacer Dale Steyn ahead of the Indian Premiere League auction. They will have two right-to-match cards available to them at the auction, on February 12.

Dhawan's profile shot up in 2013, when he established himself in the Indian team across all formats. He was also elevated to the captaincy of Sunrisers during the Champions League of the 2013 season, and was one of the few marquee Indian names in the squad. Steyn has been the world's leading fast bowlers for several years, and had turned in several match-turning performances last season. He was signed for $1.2m in the 2011 auction, and would have expected similar, or perhaps better, returns in this auction.

Meanwhile, defending champions Mumbai Indians, the formidable Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals are the three teams who have exhausted all their five retentions available for the seventh edition of the IPL as the franchises submitted their list to the Governing Council on Friday.

Almost all the established Indian players have been retained by their respective franchises. CSK predictably retained skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina and West Indies' Dwayne Bravo.

Mumbai Indians went with their champion skipper Rohit Sharma, senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard, Sri Lankan slinger Lasith Malinga and talented batsman Ambati Rayudu.

Aussie pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson will in all likelihood be picked up with 'Right to Match' card while Dinesh Karthik has also got the boot. Royal Challengers Bangalore had retained their captain Virat Kohli, Jamaican Game-Changer Chris Gayle and explosive South African ODI and T20 skipper AB de Villiers.

Rajasthan Royals retained Australian Shane Watson, who will lead the side in IPL-VII along with left-arm seamer James Faulkner, Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny and Sanju Samson, who looked in fine touch in the Recently concluded Under-19 Asia Cup.

The franchise also retained talented India colts wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson, who did well for the franchise in the Champions League T20.

Kings XI Punjab retained hard-hitting South African left-hander David Miller and talented Ranji team opener Manan Vohra. Vohra is another uncapped player to be retained.

Kolkata Knight Riders retained their skipper Gautam Gambhir along with mystery spinner Sunil Narine for the next edition of the cash-rich league.

Delhi Daredevils unanimously decided against retention of their existing player going into the Indian Premier League (IPL7) auction. The team management explaining the decision said that it was the unanimous decision of the management with the focus of building a fresh team that the fans would be proud of.