BENGALURU: Royal Challengers Bangalore retained their core group ahead of the IPL mini auction to be held next month. Tuesday was the last date for trading and submission of the retained players list by the 10 franchises.
Among the key overseas players to be retained in the Faf du Plessis-led team are Glenn Maxwell, David Willey and Wanindu Hasaranga. Seasoned stars Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik along with bowlers Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj were among the Indian players who will stay with the Bengaluru-based franchise.
RCB released five players including West Indies middle-order batter Sherfane Rutherford. The 24-year-old, who joined the franchise at his base price of Rs 1 crore last season, featured in three matches and scored 28 runs. Australian left-arm pacer Jason Behrendorff was traded to Mumbai Indians over the weekend.
The other players to be released are CV Milind and the Karnataka duo of Aneeshwar Gautam and Luvnith Sisodia.
Sisodia picked up an injury at the beginning of the season and Rajat Patidar, was named his replacement. RCB decided to retain Patidar considering his stellar performance during their campaign which ended in Qualifier 2 last season. In eight matches, the 29-year-old from Madhya Pradesh scored 333 runs including an unbeaten 112.

With the released players, RCB will go into the auction with an additional Rs 2.2 crore in their kitty.
KEY RETENTIONS: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, David Willey, Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mohd Siraj & Harshal Patel.
PLAYERS RELEASED: Sherfane Rutherford (Price: Rs 1 cr); Jason Behrendorff (Rs 75 lakh; traded to Mumbai Indians); Aneeshwar Gautam (Rs 20 lakh); Luvnith Sisodia (Patidar as injury replacement); CV Milind (Rs 25 lakh).
AGARWAL, MANISH IN AUCTION POOL
Opener Mayank Agarwal, who captained Punjab Kings last season, figures among the top Karnataka players in the auction pool. Shikhar Dhawan replaced Agarwal as Kings’ skipper recently. Another state player, Manish Pandey, has been released by Lucknow Super Giants.
Punjab Kings: Mayank Agarwal.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: J Suchith, R Samarth, Shreyas Gopal.
Lucknow Super Giants: Manish Pandey.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Aneeshwar Gautam, Luvnith Sisodia.
Rajasthan Royals: Karun Nair.