Last Updated on 6 months by Charbel Coorey

Delhi Capitals (DC) are among those teams yet to win an IPL title, and they’ll be hoping to do so in 2025. They have failed to qualify for the playoffs since 2021 and their best season till date is when they lost the final in 2020 against Mumbai Indians.

DC have had quality players in their ranks over the years but they’ve failed to perform consistently as a team. They parted ways with their head coach Ricky Ponting and it will be quite interesting to see how they approach the retentions and mega auction for IPL 2025. It shouldn’t be a big concern for them on whom to retain ahead of the auction. We’ll talk about that but first let’s understand the retention rules.

IPL 2025 Retention Rules

Teams are allowed to retain up to six players either through direct retentions or using the Right to Match (RTM). There is no limit for the retentions of overseas players but teams can retain a maximum of two uncapped players. Any Indian player who last played international cricket 5+ years ago and has no central contract from the BCCI can be retained as an “uncapped player”.

RTMs will depend on the number of retentions (6 – No. of Players Retained). The salary caps for the retained players is:

• 1st Retention: 18 Crores
• 2nd Retention: 14 Crores
• 3rd Retention: 11 Crores
• 4th Retention: 18 Crores
• 5th Retention: 14 Crores
• Uncapped Player: 4 Crores

So teams will have to be cautious while retaining the 4th & 5th player as releasing them now and buying them back using the RTM may be a better deal as there aren’t many players who will fetch more than what the amount they’ll be retained for.

Who DC should retain for IPL 2025: A Solid Indian Core

DC had a relatively young squad in IPL 2024. Their batters did well but they lacked quality and depth, plus a X-Factor player with the ball. They can do well as a team if they are able to fix these issues.

Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant will be the first retention. He provides an aggressive middle order option. In fact, the dynamic left-hander can bat anywhere in the order.

Pant specialises in taking the attack to the opposition and he’ll lead the Capitals as well. He had a good season in IPL 2024 where he scored 446 runs in 13 innings at an average of 40.50 and struck at 155.40, including 3 fifties. The keeper-batter has been a key player for DC over the years and he’s expected to be the face of the franchise for many more years to come.

Axar Patel

Axar Patel has been a consistent performer for the Delhi Capitals with both bat & ball in the past few seasons. His batting has improved exceptionally well, which we saw in the T20 World Cup earlier this year. Axar is also flexible with his batting order which is a great thing for the Capitals and he is a proven performer with the ball as well.

He scored 235 runs in 12 innings in IPL 2024 at an average of 29.40, striking at 131.30 and picked up 11 wickets at an economy of 7.66 and his bowling strike rate was 24. He is a true all-rounder and should be the second retention for the Delhi Capitals.

Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav is amongst the best spinners in white-ball cricket. He is a genuine wicket-taker and has been a crucial player for DC, especially, in the middle overs of the game. He picks up wickets in clusters and has been consistent in recent seasons.

Kuldeep picked up 16 wickets in IPL 2024 at an economy of 8.65 and strike rate of 16.10. At the moment, he’s arguably the best spinner in Indian white-ball circuit and is expected to be the third retention for DC.

Abhishek Porel (Uncapped)

Delhi Capitals can also retain the 22-year-old Abhishek Porel ahead of the mega auction. The young wicket-keeper batter impressed a lot last season where he scored 327 runs in 12 games at an average of 32.70 and strike rate of 159.50. This included a couple of fifties.

Abhishek did well while batting in the top order for DC and he also provides a back-up wicket-keeping option for Delhi. He is young, talented and can turn out to be a great investment for the Delhi Capitals.

Right to Match Picks for Delhi Capitals

Harry Brook

Harry Brook was picked up by the Delhi Capitals for IPL 2024 but he had to withdraw from the tournament due to personal reasons. He should be available for IPL 2025 and is eligible to be retained using RTM.

Brook is one of the most impressive young batters in world cricket. He had an exceptional ODI series against Australia recently where he led the side in Jos Buttler’s absence. Brook can open the innings or bat in the middle order and plays shots all around the groundl. He is always improving against spin as well.

He didn’t have a great debut season back in 2023 when he played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, but he’s a quality batter and surely worth retaining in the auction.

Tristan Stubbs

Delhi can also use their RTM on the likes of Mukesh Kumar or Khaleel Ahmed as both are quality domestic pacers. However, I feel using the RTM on Tristan Stubbs will be a better decision. Stubbs scored 378 runs in 13 games at an excellent average of 54 and a whopping strike rate of 190.90 including three fifties.

Stubbs is currently amongst the best middle order batters in white-ball cricket. He is capable of winning games single-handedly and retaining him will give good depth to the Capitals in their batting.

There are many other players who DC can consider retaining like Jake-Fraser McGurk, Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed & Anrich Nortje. But, most of them can be brought back cheaply compared to the retention amount.

Retaining the likes of Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and using RTM for Harry Brook & Tristan Stubbs will form a solid young core. Plus, their middle order will be mighty strong.

They’ll have an excellent squad for IPL 2025 if they can build a good top order and pace attack on top of the retentions.