Continuity, stability, unflinching faith in their players and tips from skipper Sanju Samson influenced former IPL champions Rajasthan Royals’ decision to opt for six retentions (the maximum allowed), head coach Rahul Dravid said on Monday.

The deadline for teams to submit their list of retained players was October 31.

The Royals have retained Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, and Sandeep Sharma. Seamer Sharma has been retained under the revived ‘uncapped’ player rule.

“There is definitely a stability when you retain six players. We could only retain six players, but if we could have done more, we would have retained more for sure,” Dravid told JioCinema.

“We believe that the players we have retained are deserving. Of course, you have less money when you go to the auction, but there is a certain stability that you have blocked in some areas and then you can see how you have to make the whole team.”

The Royals let go of Jos Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal among others and they will go into the auction pool.

On retaining Samson as the No. 1 pick, Dravid explained: “Sanju Samson is our batsman, wicketkeeper and captain. He has been the captain of this team for many years. So, it was a no-brainer for us to retain him as he will be our captain in the future too.

“He was a top retainer pick for us and he was very involved in our decision process as well. Sanju Samson played a big role in the retention, and it was difficult for him as well... He has had a lot of balanced views about this.”

PTI