Last Updated on 2 months by Charbel Coorey

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won IPL 2024 in style. They had a super team with all bases covered and plenty of match-winners in their squad.

Sunil Narine found his mojo with the bat once again and the likes of Andre Russell, Shreyas Iyer, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Vekratesh Iyer and even Rahmanullah Gurbaz were brilliant. Mitchell Starc found his grove in the playoffs. Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh alongside Vaibhav Arora also chipped in with crucial contributions.

However, it’s very unlikely they can retain most of their squad with the retention rules announced for IPL 2025 ahead of the mega auction. Before talking about KKR’s potential retention strategy, let’s first understand the 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 should KKR retain for IPL 2025: Big Headache for the Knight Riders

The KKR management has a headache given the quality of players in the squad. They’ll have to be smart with their retentions, as there will be a big chunk of the purse taken out with more than three retentions.

Andre Russell

Andre Russell is one of those players who will be the first names in any T20 side in the world. He is a proper match-winner with both bat and ball. The Jamaican all-rounder has performed in T20 leagues around the globe and has been an integral part of the KKR franchise since joining them.

Russell is amongst the most destructive batters in world cricket and a has a knack of picking up wickets with the ball. He scored 222 runs in nine innings last year at an average of 31.70 at strike rate of 185 including a fifty. He also picked up 19 wickets at an economy of 10.06 and brilliant bowling strike rate of just 9.30.

Russell, without any doubts, will be one of the players retained by KKR for IPL 2025. He’ll most probably be their first retention as well.

Sunil Narine

Sunil Narine is another key player for KKR. Narine once again started opening for KKR in IPL 2024 and had his career-best season with the bat in any T20 league. He scored 488 runs in 14 games at an average of 34.90 at a strike rate of 180.70 including three fifties and a century against the Rajasthan Royals.

Narine also picked up 17 wickets at an economy of 6.69. Narine was the most valuable player of IPL 2024 for his excellent all-round performance. Surely, Narine will be one of the KKR retentions for 2025 and end his IPL career at KKR.

Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer was excellent as the captain of KKR in IPL 2024. Personally he had a good season as well with 351 runs in 14 games at an average of 39 at a strike rate of 146.90 including a couple of fifties.

Iyer has been in good form, and having someone of his quality in the middle order is a great luxury. He is excellent against the spinners and has also improved his game against short-pitched bowling.

A young, experienced and capable middle order batsman, who can also lead the side, is a great asset for any franchise in the IPL. But despite being the captain of KKR, I feel Shreyas Iyer will be the third retention for KKR ahead of IPL 2025.

Ramandeep Singh (Uncapped)

Ramandeep Singh was an underrated performer for KKR in IPL 2024. He was excellent in the limited opportunities he got with the bat and was a live wire in the field for the champions.

He can contribute with the ball as well, which makes him a complete package. Having the option to retain someone like that for just 4 crores is a steal and KKR should retain him for IPL 2025.

Ramandeep hit 125 runs in nine games at a strike rate of 201.60 at an average of 31.20. He is 27 years old and will be a great investment for years to come.

Harshit Rana (Uncapped)

Harshit Rana wasn’t selected for India in the recent T20I series against Bangladesh. This is good news for KKR, who can retain him for 4 crores as an uncapped player.

In IPL 2024, Harshit took the equal fourth-most wickets (19) at an average of 20.15 and strike rate of 13.31. The 22-year-old is an investment for the future, so KKR should not let this opportunity slip.

RTM Options for KKR

Now comes the tricky part for the Knight Riders as they have the likes of Rinku Singh, Phil Salt, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy & Mitchell Starc in their ranks. All of them are quality players and proven performers.

It will be quite tough to even get their players back using RTM as other teams will be ready to throw in big bucks for these players.

Rinku Singh

With Phil Salt and Sunil Narine performing consistently in IPL 2024, Rinku Singh didn’t get a lot of opportunities. He faced only 113 deliveries in 11 innings (Less than 2 overs per game) and scored 168 runs, striking at 148.70. We all know how capable Rinku is and how big a match-winner he can be. He will be a great asset in the middle order for any side as he can take on the bowlers and bat positively in the middle phase.

Rinku scored 474 runs in 14 games in IPL 2023 at an average of 59.20 and struck at 149.50 including four fifties. KKR can surely retain him but is he worth 18 crores? I don’t think so. They can get him for cheaper than that in the auction using the RTM. I am quite sure that KKR will retain Rinku using the RTM.

Varun Chakaravarthy

Varun Chakaravarthy has been a key bowler for KKR, especially in the last two editions. He picked up 21 wickets in 14 games in IPL 2024 at an economy of 8.04 and strike rate of 14.30, after taking 20 scalps in 2023.

Varun has also been added in India’s T20I squad as the lead spinner which shows how much he has improved. Having someone like him in their spin attack is a luxury for any franchise and KKR will most probably try to buy him back using the RTM.

So Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer should be the 3 retentions for KKR with Rinku Singh & Varun Chakaravarthy being the sure shot players KKR will excercise their RTM on. They also have the option of retaining Vaibhav Arora who did well for them bowling with the new ball and Angkrish Raghuvanshi who was very impressive in debut season in the IPL as uncapped players alongside Ramandeep.

Even after this they have the likes of Mitchell Starc, Phil Salt, Vekatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana and Rahmanullah Gurbaz in their squad who are all match-winners. It’s going to be a tough time for the KKR management in deciding whom to retain but I feel the above mentioned players should be retained as they’ll a strong core for IPL 2025 and can build a strong side around these players to target their 4th IPL title.