Last Updated on 1 month by Charbel Coorey
After months of rumours and speculation, the ten teams have confirmed their retained players for the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. There were surprises and talking points, and the scene is set for the huge mega auction.
In this article, we will look at the players retained, the purse remaining for all ten teams, as well as how many Right to Match (RTM) cards they have left.
IPL 2025: Retained players for each team ahead of the mega auction
Chennai Super Kings
| Category | Details |
| 1st retention | Ruturaj Gaikwad (18 cr) |
| 2nd retention | Matheesha Pathirana (13 cr) |
| 3rd retention | Shivam Dube (12 cr) |
| 4th retention | Ravindra Jadeja (18 cr) |
| 5th retention | MS Dhoni (5 cr) |
| Purse spent | 65 cr |
| Purse remaining | 55 cr |
| RTMs | 1 |
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) retained five players totalling INR 65 crore for IPL 2025. Ruturaj Gaikwad was their first pick, followed by Sri Lankan fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana and India all-rounder Shivam Dube as the second and third retentions respectively. Ravindra Jadeja was also retained for a large amount, while MS Dhoni was retained as an uncapped player given he last played international cricket over five years ago.
After their retention decisions, CSK have INR 55 crore and one RTM card available for the IPL 2025 Mega Auction.
Delhi Capitals
| Category | Details |
| 1st retention | Axar Patel (16.50 cr) |
| 2nd retention | Kuldeep Yadav (13.25 cr) |
| 3rd retention | Tristan Stubbs (10 cr) |
| 4th retention | Abishek Porel (4 cr) |
| Purse spent | 47 cr |
| Purse remaining | 73 cr |
| RTMs | 2 |
Delhi Capitals (DC) retained four players, with Axar Patel as their first retention for INR 16.50 crore. Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs and Abishek Porel were their other retentions.
DC have a solid INR 73 crore to spend in the auction, as well as two RTMs. Out of these two RTMs, both can be capped players or one capped + one uncapped.
Not retaining Rishabh Pant initially was the big call by DC. It will be interesting to see if they activate one of their RTMs on the star keeper-batsman.
Kolkata Knight Riders
| Category | Details |
| 1st retention | Rinku Singh (13 cr) |
| 2nd retention | Varun Chakravarthy (12 cr) |
| 3rd retention | Sunil Narine (12 cr) |
| 4th retention | Andre Russell (12 cr) |
| 5th retention | Harshit Rana (4 cr) |
| 6th retention | Ramandeep Singh (4 cr) |
| Purse spent | 69 cr |
| Purse remaining | 51 cr |
| RTMs | None |
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) arguably had the most difficult decisions to make ahead of the October 31 deadline. They have so many players worthy of retention, and they decided to retain six in the end.
Rinku Singh, who had a limited role in IPL 2024 given the quality of the KKR batting, was retained as the first pick (INR 13 crore). Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell were all retained for INR 12 crore. Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh were both retained as uncapped players.
KKR have INR 51 crore to spend. Whether they look to purchase Shreyas Iyer will be interesting to see after choosing not to retain him. However, they will not be able to use an RTM as they have none available.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
| Category | Details |
| 1st retention | Virat Kohli (21 cr) |
| 2nd retention | Rajat Patidar (11 cr) |
| 3rd retention | Yash Dayal (5 cr) |
| Purse spent | 37 cr |
| Purse remaining | 83 cr |
| RTMs | 3 |
There was lots of speculation as to which players Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) would retain. Virat Kohli was the obvious pick, retained for a huge INR 21 crore. Rajat Patidar (INR 11 crore) and Yash Dayal (INR 5 crore) were the other two picks.
Notable exclusions are Glenn Maxwell (poor IPL 2024) and Cameron Green (serious back injury), as well as Faf du Plessis. RCB have three RTMs available, where they can use it on a maximum of one uncapped player.
Lucknow Super Giants
| Category | Details |
| 1st retention | Nicholas Pooran (21 cr) |
| 2nd retention | Ravi Bishnoi (11 cr) |
| 3rd retention | Mayank Yadav (11 cr) |
| 4th retention | Mohsin Khan (4 cr) |
| 5th retention | Ayush Badoni (4 cr) |
| Purse spent | 51 cr |
| Purse remaining | 69 cr |
| RTMs | 1 |
KL Rahul was not retained as Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) confirmed their five retentions. Nicholas Pooran, who has played to his potential in T20s in recent times, was the first retention at a whopping INR 21 crore. Legspinner Ravi Bishnoi and fast bowler Mayank Yadav were both retained for INR 11 crore, while Mohsin Khan and Ayush Badoni were retained as uncapped players.
LSG have INR 69 crore remaining for the mega auction and one RTM card available for a capped player.
Punjab Kings
| Category | Details |
| 1st retention | Shashank Singh (5.5 cr) |
| 2nd retention | Prabhsimran Singh (4 cr) |
| Purse spent | 9.5 cr |
| Purse remaining | 110.5 cr |
| RTMs | 4 |
Punjab Kings, with Ricky Ponting onboard as coach, have opted to start fresh and spend big in the auction. They retained just two players (Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh) and have a huge INR 110.5 crore remaining. They also have four RTMs available to use on capped players.
Mumbai Indians
| Category | Details |
| 1st retention | Jasprit Bumrah (18 cr) |
| 2nd retention | Suryakumar Yadav (16.35 cr) |
| 3rd retention | Hardik Pandya (16.35 cr) |
| 4th retention | Rohit Sharma (16.30 cr) |
| 5th retention | Tilak Varma |
| Purse spent | 75 cr |
| Purse remaining | 45 cr |
| RTMs | 1 |
Mumbai Indians (MI) retained their “big four” of Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma. Tilak Varma was retained as the fifth player.
MI find themselves in an interesting situation. They have spent INR 75 crore already, leaving just INR 45 crore for the mega auction. Their one RTM available is for an uncapped player.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
| Category | Details |
| 1st retention | Heinrich Klaasen (23 cr) |
| 2nd retention | Pat Cummins (18 cr) |
| 3rd retention | Abhishek Sharma (14 cr) |
| 4th retention | Travis Head (14 cr) |
| 5th retention | Nitish Kumar Reddy (6 cr) |
| Purse spent | 75 cr |
| Purse remaining | 45 cr |
| RTMs | 1 |
There was plenty of speculation as to who IPL 2024 finalists Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) would retain. They’ve spent big on their retentions, headlined by a massive INR 23 crore for Heinrich Klaasen. In fact, they have exactly INR 45 crore and one RTM for an uncapped player remaining, just like MI.
Captain Pat Cummins was retained for INR 18 crore, while openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head were retained for 14 crore. Nitish Kumar Reddy, who impressed last season, was retained for INR 6 crore.
Rajasthan Royals
| Category | Details |
| 1st retention | Sanju Samson (18 cr) |
| 2nd retention | Yashasvi Jaiswal (18 cr) |
| 3rd retention | Riyan Parag (14 cr) |
| 4th retention | Dhruv Jurel (14 cr) |
| 5th retention | Shimron Hetmyer (11 cr) |
| 6th retention | Sandeep Sharma (4 cr) |
| Purse spent | 79 cr |
| Purse remaining | 41 cr |
| RTMs | 0 |
Rajasthan Royals (RR) made the big call not to retain any of Jos Buttler, Trent Boult, R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal. However, RR have still spent the most of any team on retentions, with just INR 41 crore remaining in their purse.
Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag and Sandeep Sharma seemed sure retentions beforehand. Retaining Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel for a combined INR 25 crore is an interesting call, highlighting the importance RR will place on their finishing.
Gujarat Titans
| Category | Details |
| 1st retention | Rashid Khan (18 cr) |
| 2nd retention | Shubman Gill (16.50 cr) |
| 3rd retention | Sai Sudharsan (8.50 cr) |
| 4th retention | Rahul Tewatia (4 cr) |
| 5th retention | Shahrukh Khan (4 cr) |
| Purse spent | 51 cr |
| Purse remaining | 69 cr |
| RTMs | 1 |
Gujarat Titans (GT) have a solid core of retentions and INR 69 crore to spend in the mega auction. Rashid Khan (INR 18 crore) was picked as the top retention over Shubman Gill (INR 16.50 crore), as GT also picked Sai Sudharsan (INR 8.5 crore), Rahul Tewatia (uncapped) and Shahrukh Khan (uncapped).
GT have one RTM available to use on a capped player.
Who do you think did best with their player retentions? Be sure to leave a comment or get in touch with us on X @cric_blog.
