IPL 7: The star performers who are retained by their franchise

New Delhi: The biggest cricketing extravaganza that is the Indian Premiere League is all set to kick of in its seventh edition. The galaxy of cricketing stars from across the globe will sweat it out to prove their worth. Lets take a look on the stars who have been retained by their franchise.Cricketers who have performed exceptionally well in the previous season's of the tournament have been retained by the respective franchise.Mahendra Singh Dhoni (CSK) : Captain cool of team India who has been leading the Chennai team from the first edition has been retained by the franchise and will lead the team in the seventh edition also.He has been retained at a price tag of 12.5 crores.Mahendra Singh Dhoni is known to be one of the best finishers in the game of cricket. He is also known to be a skipper who takes out of the box decision which helps his team to win matches in close situation. He also has the respect from all the players both from India and international one. Dhoni has scored 2243 runs in 96 matches at an average of 38.01 with a strike rate of 141.15. Virat Kohli (RCB): The mainstay of the Indian batting line up who has become synonymous with consistency have been retained by Vijay Mallya owned franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore. He has been given the reigns of the team as he had shown what it needs to lead the team.He has been retained at a price tag of 5 crores Virat Kohli the next big thing in Indian cricket has performed pretty well in IPL also. Till now he has played a total of 93 matches in which he had scored 2273 runs at an average of 31.56 with a strike rate of 124.13. His slow medium pace can also prove to be tricky sometimes.AB de Villiers(RCB)South African stumper is one of the most feared T20 batsman around the world. His athleticism in field is also a plus point. He can come lower down the batting order and can score runs pretty fast which is an asset for any team. He has been retained for a price tag of 7.5 crores. He has innovated many T20 shots which he plays at odd angles which the even the best of bowlers find hard to control. Such hard hitting ability of de Villiers makes him one of the most feared batsmen around the world. He has joined RCB in the fourth season of the IPl in 2011.For RCB he has played a total of 46 matches in which he has scored 991 runs at an average of 37.70 with a strike rate of 150.15 Chris Gayle(RCB): The great Jamaican has been retained by Royal challengers Bangalore because his presence in the middle is enough to send shivers among the opposition bowlers. Gayle has been the one man army for RCB on many occasions.He has been retained by RCB for an amount of 9.5 crores He is the most destructive batsman on any given day. The towering sixes that he hits almost stays hit in the air for a long time. Like de Villiers , he also joined RCB in the fourth edition of IPL after being ignored by KKR. He has played a total of 43 matches for RCB in which he has scored 991 runs at an average of 62.09 with an amazing strike rate of 165.10. Dale Steyn (SRH): The South African speedster has been retained by SunRisers Hyderabad for an whopping 9.5 crore .He has played a crucial role in the improved performance that the team had shown in the last season. He will be important factor in the scheme of things of Sunrisers Hyderabad. His importance can be evaluated from the fact that he has an economy rate of 5.66 in an format where other premiere bowlers give away 7 runs per over. He has played 17 matches for SRH in which he had taken 19 wickets. His best bowling performance had been that of 3 wickets by giving away 11 runs. Lasith Malinga ( MI): The pacer with a slinging bowling action can be an asset to any team. He is one of the few players who can rip apart any opposition on any given day.He has been retained by the Mumbai Indian franchise for an whopping 9.5 crore.He joined MI from the second season of IPL and had played 73 matches for the franchise in which he has taken 103 wickets. His best bowling performance was taking five wickets by giving away only 13 runs. He has an economy of 6.54. The bowler will be upbeat in the upcoming season after his performance in the recently held ICC world T20. Sunil Narine( KKR): The Caribbean mystery spinner has taken the IPL by storm once he joined the league. He has performed constantly and was one of the important factors in Kolkata Knight Riders becoming the champion in 2012.The KKR franchise has shown faith in the spinner and has retained him. He has joined KKR in the fifth edition of IPL and till now played 31 matches for the franchise. He has taken 46 wickets with his best bowling performance being taking five wickets by giving away only19 runs. He has a bowling economy of 5.47 which is pretty good considering the format of the game. Gautam Gambhir ( KKR): The team India discard has been retained by the owner of the KKR franchise. Gambhir who played a crucial role in making the KKR the champions in the fifth edition of the IPL will try to prove a point or two in this edition of IPL. Gautam Gambhir has been a prolific scorer at the top for KKR. After joining the team KKR, Gambhir has scored a total of 1374 runs for the KKR team. He has a strike rate of 128.29 while playing for KKR. Gambhir will definitely look to make full use of this opportunity to make a comeback in the Indian national team. Shane Watson(RR): The Australian all rounder who had a dismal outing in the recently held ICC world T20 will look to make point. He has been retained by the Rajhastan Royals team and will be leading the team in this edition. He has been retained for an amount of 12.5 crore.He has been associated with the Rajahasthan team from the first season and has played 55 matches for the team in which he had scored 1785 runs at an average of 39.66 with a strike rate of 145.59. He is a good bowling option for his team as he can be pretty useful with bowling.Shane had taken 48 wickets in 55 matches with the best performance being taking three wickets by giving away ten runs.