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As the IPL 2025 mega auction looms, the 10 franchises are racing against time to finaliSe their retention lists.
The coming IPL players' auction could turn out to be an action-packed affair with a lot of star players expected to go under the hammer.
Shreyas Iyer, who led KKR to the IPL 2024 title, could be headed for the auction after failing to make a breakthrough in negotiations while K L Rahul is also unlikely to be retained after a poor showing by his team, the Lucknow Super Giants.
The big teams like the Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, who generally prefer to stick with their tried and tested players, also face some tough decisions when it comes to retention.
A franchise can retain a maximum of six players through the retention and Right to Match (RTM) option for the 2025 season while the released players will go into the auction pool.
Will these teams retain the maximum of six players or will they take fresh guard and go for a complete overhaul through the auction?
The new IPL rules have made the player retentions a complex affair.
If a franchise retains a maximum of six players, including five capped and one uncapped player, it will cost them a whopping Rs 79 crore (Rs 790 million) from their total auction purse of Rs 120 crore (Rs 1.20 billion).
While the teams have been asked to submit their retention list by October 31, the IPL mega auction is tipped to be held in Riyadh on November 24 and 25.
A look at the possible retentions by the IPL teams:
Mumbai Indians
Possible retentions: Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan.
For five-time champions Mumbai Indians, retaining their top three stars in Captain Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah is a no-brainer.
Rohit Sharma is a huge dilemma for MI. Do they retain him as the fourth option for Rs 18 crore (Rs 180 million) or do they take a chance with him at the auction?
MI's shocking decision to replace Rohit with Hardik as skipper backfired in IPL 2024 and they will be wary this time of making too many big changes in the set-up.
Also, if Rohit goes into the auction, a bidding war could take past Rs 20 crore (Rs 200 million) with quite a few teams in the lookout for a strong captain.
After leading India to the T20 World Cup triumph, if Rohit enters the auction he could be on the wishlist of many franchises and will surely trigger a never-seen-before bidding war.
MI might also not want to risk the likes of Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma at the auction -- the two young stars they have groomed over the years.
With each team allowed to retain a maximum of five capped players, MI can retain only one of Kishan and Varma.
Overall, retaining the five capped players could cost MI as much Rs 75 crore (Rs 750 million) from their auction kitty of Rs 120 crore.
Will Rs 45 crore (Rs 450 million) be enough to pick the rest of the squad?
Chennai Super Kings
Possible retentions: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube
Five-time winners CSK will also aim to retain its core.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Matheesha Pathirana and Shivam Dube are set to be the top four retentions.
IPL's new ruling on uncapped players means that the legend Dhoni is all set to be retained as an uncapped player at a bargain price of Rs 4 crore (Rs 40 million).
Though Dhoni, 43, could be limited to playing as the Impact Player in most of the games, his mere presence on the field is a big boost for the team and the fans in Chennai.
CSK could use their RTM card most probably use to buy back someone like Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway or Moeen Ali at the auction.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Possible retentions: Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy.
KKR could lose two of their key players in Captain Shreyas Iyer and star all-rounder Andre Russell
Iyer was expected to be the first choice after leading KKR to their IPL title last season but he was unable to find the middle path on a new deal. Russell, who has been with KKR for 10 years since 2014, could also be on his way out.
Harshit Rana could come in cheap as the uncapped player for Rs 4 crore. While the pacer unfortunately missed out on his India debut after he was ruled out of the third T20I against Bangladesh because of a viral infection has proved to be a blessing in disguise for his IPL team KKR.
They could use the RTM card to either buy England's Phil Salt, who was phenomenal with the bat for KKR last season. Even the experienced Nitish Rana, who has been one of their key players over the years, and Mitchell Starc could be on their radar at the auction.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Possible retentions: Virat Kohli, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal.
Virat Kohli along with senior pacer Mohammed Siraj could be among the top two retentions for RCB.
Yash Dayal will come in cheap as the uncapped player for Rs 4 crore.
Glenn Maxwell's poor showing last season along with Cameron Green's injury setback could see RCB release the duo and try to get back them at the auction, depending on their form an fitness.
They will no doubt look to get back Rajat Patidar using the RTM card at the auction instead of paying a hefty Rs 11 crore (Rs 110 million) as the retention fee.
Not retaining too many players gives RCB the flexibility to make some big money moves at the auction.
With Faf du Plessis set to be released, RCB could be on the lookout for a new captain and could break the bank if someone like Rohit, K L Rahul or Rishabh Pant get into the auction.
Lucknow Super Giants
Possible retentions: Nicholas Pooran, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Ayush Badoni, Mohsin Khan.
K L Rahul, who captained LSG the last three seasons, is likely to be released. His strike rate as opener has been below par while he also faced a lot of flak as captain after his team's poor showing last season.
West Indies big-hitter Nicholas Pooran along with young pace sensation Mayank Yadav and spinner Ravi Bishnoi could be the top three LSG retentions.
Young batter Ayush Badoni and left-arm fast bowler Mohsin Khan could be the two uncapped retentions.
In case Rahul is released, LSG will be willing to spend big on a top batter at the auction since retaining just three capped players could leave them with a hefty auction purse.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Possible retentions: Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Reddy
Sunrisers Hyderabad could go in for maximum retentions as they look to retain the core from the last season when they finished runners up -- the first time they had made it past the play-offs in three years.
Pat Cummins is set to continue as captain while Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Reddy are likely to be the other capped retentions.
They could use the RTM card to buy back Abdul Samad as their uncapped player at the auction.
Delhi Capitals
Possible retentions: Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Kuldeep Yadav, Abishek Porel
Rishabh Pant is set to continue at Delhi Capitals, who made some surprising changes in their coaching staff by bringing as Hemang Badani as the head coach to replace Ricky Ponting and Venugopal Rao as the director of cricket in place of Sourav Ganguly.
All-rounder Axar Patel will also be retained along with Kuldeep Yadav and the young Jake Fraser-McGurk, who played some swashbuckling knocks in IPL 2024.
They could use the remaining two RTM cards to buy back their top stars Mitchell Marsh, and Anrich Nortje.
Abishek Porel is likely to be retained as the uncapped player.
Rajasthan Royals
Possible retentions: Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag
With Rahul Dravid back at the helm as head coach, you can expect Rajasthan Royals to make some sharp calls with retentions.
Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag could be their top three retentions as they focus on continuity, while they could use the RTM card to buy back Yuzvendra Chahal at the auction.
RR loyalist Jos Buttler could be another RTM option for the 2008 champions at the auction, with Shimron Hetmyer, Trent Boult and Dhruv Jurel as the other possible options.
Gujarat Titans
Possible retentions: Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Tewatia
Gujarat Titans are unlikely to retain too many players.
Shubman Gill and Rashid Khan are straightforward picks as the top two retentions, while Rahul Tewatia could be retained as the uncapped player.
They will most likely look to retain TN's young batting star Sai Sudharshan using the RTM option.
Mohammed Shami, who is yet to make a full recovery, is a big question mark for Titans. Do they spend Rs 11 crore to retain him or take a gamble with the RTM card at the auction?
David Miller could be another possible RTM option for the Titans.
Titans would likely slash the cash at the auction in hope of getting some top players as they look to completely revamp their squad.
Punjab Kings
Possible retentions: Shashank Singh, Ashutosh Sharma
Punjab Kings are likely to have the biggest purse at the auction at Rs 112 crore (Rs 1.12 billion) as they might retain just two uncapped players.
While Arshdeep Singh has been their most consistent performer with the ball in the last four seasons, Punjab are unlikely to retain him at Rs 18 crore (Rs 180 million). Instead, they will look to bag him us the RTM card at the auction for a much-lesser price.
Similarly, Liam Livingstone or Kagiso Rabada could be bought back using the RTM option.
With the retirement of Shikhar Dhawan, Punjab are in the hunt for a new captain. Expect new Coach Ricky Ponting to take some strategic calls as he looks to build the team from scratch.