As the retention rules of the Indian Premier League (IPL) have been already announced, all the franchises are busy sorting their final list before October 31, the reported deadline for the same. Among the top sides under focus will be five-time champions Chennai Super Kings. While much of the headlines has been stolen by MS Dhoni, another point of thought remains as to who would get a higher retention slab between Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ravindra Jadeja. As per a recent report, CSK may end up offering both stalwarts a similar pay scale. The official laws state that the first retention slab must be Rs 18 crore, second Rs 14 crore, third Rs 18 crore, fourth Rs 14 crore, fifth Rs 11 crore and sixth Rs 4 crore (uncapped player).

However, CSK may choose to not create a divide between Gaikwad and Jadeja, reports Times of India. While Gaikwad has taken over as the captain of the franchise, Jadeja has been with them since 2012. In fact, Jadeja was CSK’s highest retention before the previous mega auction.

The news organisation also reports that while CSK may decide to equal out the pay of both Gaikwad and Jadeja, a final call is yet to be made. The management is set to sit down with both players before announcing their decisions.

In a case where CSK retain four players, two retention slabs of Rs 18 cr is a must, which may also open the door for Gaikwad and Jadeja to be retained on an equal pay scale.

With the Right to Match (RTM) option providing a great opportunity for players to put themselves back into the auction, CSK will also have to decide whether they should retain Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana and Indian all rounder Shivam Dube.

Interestingly, the RTM option has been included in the six retentions. Which means if a team uses all its six retentions ahead of the mega auction, it will be left with no RTM at the auction.