Three top Indian players, who were once touted to replace Rohit Sharma as the next Indian captain across formats, have parted ways with their respective franchises and are all set to headline the mega auction next month, reportedly set to take place in Riyadh. Kolkata Knight Riders released their title-winning captain, Shreyas Iyer; Delhi Capitals did not retain their captain, Rishabh Pant, and Lucknow Super Giants let go of KL Rahul as all 10 franchises confirmed their retention list on Thursday evening.
Having missed the 2023 season owing to a back injury, Iyer returned earlier this year and helped KKR lift the trophy for the first time in 10 years. But the India batter incurred the same fate as England’s World Cup-winning skipper Eoin Morgan, who had led the franchise to the IPL final in 2021, only to be released ahead of the next season.
The reigning champions hence retained Rinku Singh (INR 13 crore), Varun Chakravarthy (INR 12 crore), Sunil Narine (INR 12 crore), Andre Russell (INR 12 crore), and two uncapped Indians in Harshit Rana (INR 4 crore), Ramandeep Singh (INR 4 crore). They are the only team to retain six players ahead of the auction and hence will not be allowed to use the RTM.
Delhi Capitals’ decision marked the end of Pant’s eight-year stint at the franchise. They retained Axar Patel (INR 16.50 crore), Kuldeep Yadav (INR 13.25 crore), Tristan Stubbs (INR 10 crore), and uncapped Abishek Porel (INR 4 crore). Like KKR, DC, too, will be on the lookout for a captain in the mega auction next month.
Lucknow Super Giants too released their Indian heavyweight – KL Rahul, but unlike the aforementioned franchise, they are likely to have a captaincy option in their top retention – Nicholas Pooran (INR 21 crore). Young India players Ravi Bishnoi (INR 11 crore) Mayank Yadav (INR 11 crore) have also been retained along with uncapped players in Mohsin Khan (INR 4 crore), Ayush Badoni (INR 4 crore).
Kohli gets whopping 21 crore, Dhoni ‘uncapped player’
Virat Kohli was the costliest Indian player among the ones retained for the IPL 2025 season at INR 21 crore, while the franchise let go of captain Faf du Plessis. In fact, Bengaluru did not retain as single overseas player, including theur 17 Crore acquisition from Mumbai Indians last year – Cameron Green as their list featuring Rajat Patidar (INR 11 crore) and Yash Dayal (INR 5 crore).
The most expensive player retained, however, was South Africa international Heinrich Klaasen as Sunrisers Hyderabad broke the bank to re-sign him for INR 23 crore. They also retained their captain Pat Cummins (INR 18 crore), along with Abhishek Sharma (INR 14 crore), Travis Head (INR 14 crore), Nitish Kumar Reddy (INR 6 crore).
Chennai Super Kings, meanwhile, did not disappoint their fans as former captain MS Dhoni was retained, albeit as an ‘uncapped player.’ Besides the legendary wicketkeeper, they also re-signed Ruturaj Gaikwad (INR 18 crore), Matheesha Pathirana (INR 13 crore), Shivam Dube (INR 12 crore), Ravindra Jadeja (INR 18 crore).
No Buttler for the Royals; PBKS to have biggest auction purse
In a rather interesting move, Rajasthan released England white-ball captain Jos Buttler, who has been out of action with a calf injury since June. However, they retained six players – 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) – and hence will be without the RTM at the auction.
Punjab Kings, on the other hand, will head into the auction with the biggest purse of INR 110.5 crore as they retained just two uncapped players – Shashank Singh (INR 5.5 crore), Prabhsimran Singh (INR 4 crore).
Hardik Pandya remain MI captain
Despite finishing with the wooden spoon last season, Mumbai Indians were served a head-scratcher as far as retentions and its rules went, and they decided to re-sign all their top India players with Jasprit Bumrah (INR 18 crore) being their costliest retention. Others included incumbent India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav (INR 16.35 crore), Hardik Pandya (INR 16.35 crore), Rohit Sharma (INR 16.30 crore), Tilak Varma (INR 8 crore). Meanwhile, the franchise also confirmed that Hardik will remain the skipper for the next season.
Like Chennai and Hyderabad, Gujarat Titans also retained five players – Rashid Khan (INR 18 crore), Shubman Gill (INR 16.50 crore), Sai Sudharsan (INR 8.50 crore), including two uncapped picks in Rahul Tewatia (INR 4 crore), Shahrukh Khan (INR 4 crore).
