All of the IPL teams have submitted lists of their retained players ahead of the mega-auction, which is likely to take place during the last week of November. Each team was allowed to retain six players, of which five, at most, could be capped internationals and at least two could be uncapped. All teams except Rajasthan Royals and defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders have retained less than six players which means that they are eligible to use the Right-to-Match (RTM) option during the mega-auction. Every team that has retained five players will have one RTM option. Similarly, those who retained four players will have two RTM options. RTM can only be used to retain the type of player, capped or uncapped, where the retention limit has not maxed out yet. For instance, if a team has retained five capped players, it can not use RTM for a capped player.
Following is the list of the players each of the ten teams have retained ahead of the auction:
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Retained players: Rinku Singh (INR 13 crore), Varun Chakravarthy (INR 12 crore), Sunil Narine (INR 12 crore), Andre Russell (INR 12 crore), Harshit Rana (INR 4 crore), Ramandeep Singh (INR 4 crore)
The defending champions let go of some big names including Shreyas Iyer, Mitchell Starc, Phil Salt, Venkatesh Iyer, and Nitish Rana. Iyer, the captain who led KKR to the trophy in the last edition, was overlooked which means that KKR are looking for a new captain in the coming edition. Having retained six players, they will not be able to use RTM to get any of these players back. They have a remaining purse of INR 51 crore for the auction. Although they will pay the retained players only 57 crore, 69 crore will be deducted from the purse because the IPL rules already made it clear that the cost of retentions is fixed and does not depend upon what the team decides to pay the players.
Chennai Super Kings:
Retained players: Ruturaj Gaikwad (INR 18 crore), Ravindra Jadeja (INR 18 crore), Matheesha Pathirana (INR 13 crore), Shivam Dube (INR 12 crore), MS Dhoni (INR 4 crore)
CSK retained Dhoni as an uncapped player, to no one’s surprise, thanks to the rejuvenated rule where players who have not represented the Indian team in the past five years can be retained in the mentioned category. The team will have one RTM to be used during the auction, which they might like to use on Rachin Ravindra, who was not retained despite being one of the quickest scorers in the last season. The Chennai-based team has INR 55 crore in their purse for the auction.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru:
Retained players: Virat Kohli (INR 21 crore), Rajat Patidar (INR 11 crore), Yash Dayal (INR 5 crore)
RCB retained only three players, including one uncapped player. The team let go of their captain Faf du Plessis after three years. They will go to the auction with a whopping INR 83 crore in their purse. However, they retained Virat Kohli for INR 21 crore, making him the second-most expensive retention of this season and also the point of speculation whether RCB management want him to lead the team again. Since they have retained three players, the Bangalore-based team will have three RTM options for the auction.
Delhi Capitals:
Retained: Axar Patel (INR 16.50 crore), Kuldeep Yadav (INR 13.25 crore), Tristan Stubbs (INR 10 crore), Abishek Porel (INR 4 crore)
While there were many reports about this happening, the release of their captain from the last season, Rishabh Pant, has come as a shocker for many. DC retained three capped and one uncapped player and are set to pay the capped players INR 43.75 crore, which is less than what will deducted from their purse. They are only the second team after KKR to do this. However, they still have INR 73 crore in the purse and they might want to look for a new captain. With four RTM options, they can get Pant back as well but that is highly unlikely.
Mumbai Indians:
Retained: Jasprit Bumrah (INR 18 crore), Suryakumar Yadav (INR 16.35 crore), Hardik Pandya (INR 16.35 crore), Rohit Sharma (INR 16.30 crore), Tilak Varma (INR 8 crore)
Mumbai Indians struck gold with their retentions as they held on not only to their former captain, Rohit Sharma but also to Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya. It was confirmed earlier that Pandya will captain the side in the 2025 edition of the league, which led many to believe that the Mumbai-based team might release Rohit. However, they have managed to get all the big guns, spending only INR 75 crore. Tilak Varma is the only uncapped player, who got twice the amount stipulated by the rules for the uncapped category.
Sunrisers Hyderabad:
Retained: Heinrich Klaasen (INR 23 crore), Pat Cummins (INR 18 crore), Abhishek Sharma (INR 14 crore), Travis Head (INR 14 crore), Nitish Kumar Reddy (INR 6 crore)
Hyderabad went all out to retain Heinrich Klaasen, making him the most expensive retention of the season. Like Mumbai, they pulled off an impossible to retain the marquee players including Cummins and Head within INR 75 crore. They have one RTM option but that can only be used on an uncapped player since all of their retentions have caps.
Rajasthan Royals:
Retained: Sanju Samson (INR 18 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (INR 18 crore), Riyan Parag (INR 14 crore), Dhruv Jurel (INR 14 crore), Shimron Hetmyer (INR 11 crore), Sandeep Sharma (INR 4 crore)
RR used all their retentions before the auction, meaning they can’t use the RTM option anymore. The retained players include one uncapped and five capped players, which means that they have spent INR 79 crore on these, leaving INR 41 crore for the auction. It has come as a surprise (and not of a good sort) for many to not see Jos Buttler among the retained players.
Lucknow Super Giants:
Retained: Nicholas Pooran (INR 21 crore), Ravi Bishnoi (INR 11 crore) Mayank Yadav (INR 11 crore), Mohsin Khan (INR 4 crore), Ayush Badoni (INR 4 crore)
LSG has let go of KL Rahul, so they will, like a handful of other teams, will need to find a new captain. Nicholas Pooran was retained for INR 21 crore at the last moment, as told by the team owner. Along with him are two other capped and as many uncapped players. The team has one RTM option and INR 69 crore left for the auction.
Gujarat Titans:
Retained: Rashid Khan (INR 18 crore), Shubman Gill (INR 16.50 crore), Sai Sudharsan (INR 8.50 crore), Rahul Tewatia (INR 4 crore), Shahrukh Khan (INR 4 crore)
Gujarat have not retained Mohammad Shami, and are likely not to do so with their only RTM as well, because of his injury. What’s surprising is that both David Miller and Noor Ahmed, have been left out as well, it would be interesting to see which of both will the team win back at the expense of RTM. Titans also have a huge purse of INR 69 crore for the auction remaining and they would hope to build a strong team around the retained group.
Punjab Kings XI:
Retained: Shashank Singh (INR 5.5 crore), Prabhsimran Singh (INR 4 crore)
No better drama than seeing Punjab do their thing in auctions and their only two retentions herald just that come mega-auction. They also have the highest purse with INR 110.5 crore still waiting to be spent. Interestingly, they have, intentionally, retained Shashank Singh this time. Retaining just two players also means that they can use RTM on four capped players.
