IPL Auction 2025: Players likely to be retained by champions KKR and other teams

It’s been four months since Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) demolished Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL final earlier this year to win their third title and the discussion is already starting to shift towards the next season, which will be the 18th in the cash-rich league’s history.

No, the BCCI hasn’t suddenly decided to shift the IPL to the winter months from the summer T20 carnival that it has been since its inception in 2008. Instead, the mega auction for the next season is around the corner with the board reportedly likely to conduct it in the month of November.

The 10 franchises thus will be busy finalising their retentions and also making plans for key purchases in the auction. What they will also be waiting for will be BCCI’s guidelines for the auction, the key component would be on player retention policy.

A report on The Indian Express stated that the board will be allowing franchises to retain up to five players without bringing back the ‘Right To Match’ (RTM) card — which used to allow teams to buy back players released into the auction pool at the highest bid fetched during the auction.

Before the BCCI finalises its auction retention guidelines, we take a look at the players the 10 franchises are likely to retain ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction (assuming a limit of five players per team):

Chennai Super Kings

Five-time champions Chennai Super Kings have reportedly prepared a retention shortlist which includes MS Dhoni, the face of the franchise whose future as a player had been doubtful after his decision to step down as captain last season.

Besides former captain Dhoni, the shortlist also includes current skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, explosive middle-order batter Shivam Dube. The only overseas player mentioned in the shortlist is Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana.

CSK likely retention list: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube and Matheesha Pathirana.

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians, who also happen to be five-time champions, have a big decision to make whether to retain Rohit Sharma going forward or not after removing him from captaincy last season and appointing Hardik Pandya in his place.

While picking Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah along with skipper Pandya are no-brainers, the franchise has a big decision to make over Rohit. They will also have to make a choice between retaining wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan or Australian middle-order batter Tim David, who was proving to be quite the finisher for the franchise.

MI likely retention list: Hardik Pandya (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan (wk)/Tim David.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will have a tough time picking their core group of players going forward, meaning the successful 2024 season might have been the last season in which the seasoned pair of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine played together. Given the age of the two West Indian superstars, the Shreyas Iyer-led side are likely to retain one of them and it surely will be an incredibly tough choice.

Rinku Singh has already established himself in the Knight Riders middle order and is someone seen by the franchise as a long-term option. Phil Salt was also quite the sensation at the top of the order and will have earned the second overseas player’s spot in the list. As for the remaining spot, it will be a toss-up between Venkatesh Iyer and Harshit Rana, both of whom were fantastic last season.

KKR likely retention list: Shreyas Iyer (c), Phil Salt (wk), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell/Sunil Narine, Harshit Rana/Venkatesh Iyer.

Gujarat Titans

GT, who had won the title on debut in 2022 and finished runners-up the following year, had a disappointing run in IPL 2024 in Shubman Gill’s maiden season in charge of the franchise.

Despite their forgettable run that ended with an eighth-place finish, the Titans will likely build a team around Gill with Mohammed Shami the leader of the attack and Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan and South African middle-order batter David Miller as their overseas picks. The remaining slot could go to top-order batter B Sai Sudharsan, who has shown plenty of promise as a batter since joining the franchise in 2022.

GT likely retention list: Shubman Gill (c), Mohammed Shami, Rashid Khan, David Miller and B Sai Sudharsan.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

The ‘Orange Army’ had a superb run last season, finishing runners-up under Pat Cummins’ leadership and key to their success was the opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, which the franchise would love to continue with going forward. That, however, means the difficult decision of releasing South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen into the auction pool.

The remaining slots will likely go to Nitish Kumar Reddy and T Natarajan, the latter finishing as SRH’s leading wicket-taker and the fourth-highest overall.

SRH likely retention list: Pat Cummins (c), Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Nitish Kumar Reddy, T Natarajan.

Rajasthan Royals

Riyan Parag was the Royals’ leading run-scorer last season and should be an automatic pick alongside skipper Sanju Samson and opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, who will likely remain at the heart of the franchise going forward. RR, however, will have to make difficult choices for the other slots — choosing between leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and pacer Avesh Khan for one and wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler and left-arm pacer Trent Boult for the other.

RR likely retention list: Sanju Samson (c, wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Yuzvendra Chahal/Avesh Khan, Jos Buttler/Trent Boult.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Virat Kohli remains a no-brainer despite the fact that he will be 37 next year, as he remains the face of the franchise, much like Dhoni is for CSK. The other automatic picks for the franchise are pacers Mohammed Siraj and Yash Dayal, who took RCB into the playoffs last season at the expense of CSK.

And despite the fact that he will be 40 years old next season, Faf du Plessis should also make the cut given he had scored 438 runs at a strike rate of 161.62 and had done a fairly decent job of leading the franchise after taking over from Kohli. Should they opt for a fifth retention, it might be a toss-up between batting all-rounders Cameron Green and Will Jacks.

RCB likely retention list: Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal, Will Jacks/Cameron Green.

Delhi Capitals

DC, like CSK, also reportedly have a retention shortlist ready and the top name included in that list is wicketkeeper-captain Rishabh Pant, who is also set to receive a pay hike after negotiations with the franchise. Pant’s reported inclusion thus quashes rumours of the 26-year-old parting ways with the franchise that he has represented since he made his IPL debut in 2016.

Besides Pant, the other players who DC have on their shortlist are spinners Axar Patel and spinner Kuldeep Yadav, the former also handy with the bat, as well as Australia’s Jake Fraser-McGurk and South Africa’s Tristan Stubbs, both of whom are batters.

DC likely retention list: Rishabh Pant (c, wk), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jake Fraser-McGurk and Tristan Stubbs.

Punjab Kings

Sam Curran had captained the Kings for a majority of the season this year after Shikhar Dhawan had been sidelined with a shoulder injury, and it is likely the franchise will stick with him as the leader as they aim to start afresh with Ricky Ponting joining the side as their new head coach.

Another automatic pick is left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, and the franchise might be tempted to retain seamer Harshal Patel as well. As for Dhawan, who had announced his international retirement recently, his name appearing in the list appears unlikely for now even if he scored 373 runs in 2023 and was scoring 400-plus runs consistently before that.

PBKS likely retention list: Sam Curran (c), Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Shashank Singh, Liam Livingstone.

Lucknow Super Giants

Despite unpleasant on-field scenes involving captain KL Rahul and team owner Sanjiv Goenka last season, the senior wicketkeeper-batter will likely be retained as captain going forward, quashing rumours of a potential return to RCB.

The others likely to make the cut are Ravi Bishnoi and Mayank Yadav – who had shot to fame last season for his express pacer — with Nicholas Pooran and one of Marcus Stoinis or Quinton de Kock their likely overseas retentions.

LSG likely retention list: KL Rahul (c, wk), Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Nicholas Pooran, Marcus Stoinis/Quinton de Kock.