The major talking point in the past weeks in Indian cricket has to be the news surrounding impending IPL retention. There was a lot of speculation on which players would be retained or released by certain franchises and it was all settled as the D-day arrived on 31 October. All the teams announced their full set of retained players ahead of the IPL mega auction, which will take place in the next few weeks.
As expected, there were a couple of shocking retentions and releases done by the franchises and we will list them one by one.
Mumbai Indians`
Retained Players: Jasprit Bumrah (18 CR), Hardik Pandya (16.35 CR), Suryakumar Yadav (16.35 CR), Rohit Sharma (16.30 CR), Tilak Varma (8 CR)
Amount Deducted – 75 CR, Available Purse – 45 CR, RTM Left – 1
Mumbai Indians, who finished at the bottom of the standings in IPL 2024 have retained their Indian core ahead of the 2025 season. The notable release is the absence of Ishan Kishan from the list and have gone ahead with all-rounder Tilak Varma. MI hasn’t retained any uncapped players and none of their overseas players found a retention either.
The five-time champs will have a purse money of 55 crores going into the auction and would love to build a squad around the strong Indian core.
Chennai Super Kings
Retained Players: Ruturaj Gaikwad (18 CR), Ravindra Jadeja (18 CR), Matheesha Pathirana (13 CR), Shivam Dube (12 CR), MS Dhoni (4 CR)
Amount Deducted – 65 CR, Available Purse – 55 CR, RTM Left – 1
The major buzz going into this retention is will MS Dhoni play another season for CSK and the franchise has retained their former skipper as an uncapped player. Along with him, the former champions have gone with their match-winners from the last couple of seasons, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Matheesha Pathirana, and Shivam Dube.
While most of the retentions were almost certain, CSK could likely target any of their high-profile overseas releases Rachin Ravindra, Moeen Ali, Daryll Mitchell, or Devon Conway as one of their possible RTM options.
Rajasthan Royals
Retained Players: Sanju Samson (18 CR), Yashasvi Jaiswal (18 CR), Riyan Parag (14 CR), Dhruv Jurel (14 CR), Shimron Hetmyer (11 CR), Sandeep Sharma (4 CR)
Amount Deducted – 79 CR, Available Purse – 41 CR
The star-studded Royals team will have the least purse of 41 crores at the time of auctions having retained six of their players from the last season. Skipper Sanju Samson will have a core India batters around him in the form of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, middle-order batter Riyan Parag, and keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel. Shimron Hetmyer is the solitary retained overseas player and Sandeep Sharma is the uncapped retained player.
Having a team full of match-winners, it would be incredibly tough to release their players, and the notable stars who were not retained are Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Jos Buttler, & Ravi Ashwin.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Retained Players: Heinrich Klaasen (23 CR), Pat Cummins (18 CR), Abhishek Sharma (14 CR), Travis Head (14 CR), Nitish Reddy (6 CR)
Amount Deducted – 75 CR, Available Purse – 45 CR, RTM -1
SRH probably had the most explosive batting line-up in the last season and they have done the right thing by retaining most of their batting firepower. While Klaasen emerged as the costliest retained player ever in IPL, openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head will likely be at the top once again for the franchise. Recently India capped Nitish Reddy and has been retained for 6 crores by the SRH team that will led by Australian skipper Pat Cummins.
Some notable releases include long-time bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, all-rounder Washington Sundar, and pacer T Natarajan. They will have one of the least purses (45 crores) and a solitary RTM option going into the auction.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Retained Players: Rinku Singh (13 CR), Varun Chakaravarthy (12 CR), Sunil Narine (12 CR), Andre Russell (12 CR), Harshit Rana (4 CR), Ramandeep Singh (4 CR)
Amount Deducted – 69 CR, Available Purse – 51 CR, RTM left – 0
KKR, the defending champions have made an interesting and debatable choice to release their IPL-winning skipper Shreyas Iyer ahead of the auctions. However, on the expected lines, they retained their mainstay overseas all-rounders Narine and Russell for 12 crores each along with young Indian dashing batter Rinku Singh, who is their first pick. KKR have further bolstered their bowling attack by retaining off-spinner Varun Chakaravarthy and uncapped pacer Harshit Rana.
Other players who weren’t retained by the KKR are opener Phil Salt, Venkatesh Iyer, and the highest-paid IPL player from last season Mitchell Strac. With no RTM left for the side, it would interesting to see which players they look to get back at the auctions.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
Retained Players: Nicholas Pooran (21 CR), Ravi Bishnoi (11 CR), Mayank Yadav (11 CR), Mohsin Khan (4 CR), Ayush Badoni (4 CR)
Amount Deducted – 51 CR, Available Purse – 69 CR
Lucknow Super Giants is one of the few sides that have not retained its captain from last season. KL Rahul, who led the side in the past three editions will be in the auction along with a few other star players like Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, and Quinton de Kock. They have spent 21 crores on West Indies keeper-batter Nicholas Pooran while strengthening their bowling line-up by retaining tearaway pacer Mayank Yadav, left-arm quick Mohsin Khan, and spinner Ravi Bishnoi. Ayush Badoni, the middle-order batter is one of two LSG’s uncapped retained player for the next season.
Gujarat Titans
Retained Players: Rashid Khan (18 CR), Shubman Gill (16.5 CR), Sai Sudharsan (8.5 CR), Rahul Tewatia (4 CR), Shahrukh Khan (4 CR)
Amount Deducted – 51 CR, Available Purse – 69 CR, RTM Left – 1
Gujarat Titans, the former who has had an impressive start, and with the retention of the uncapped duo of Rahul Tewatia & Shahrukh Khan.
At the auctions, they will have their task cut out to boost the bowling attack that doesn’t include their premier wicket-taker, Mohammed Shami, and veteran pacer Mohit Sharma. Other notable omissions include overseas batter David Miller and each of the three will looked at by GT as a possible RTM option.
