How IPL retentions could play out as teams look to find perfect fits for their stars

Before the hammer goes up for the Indian Premier League 2025’s mega auction, the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) has announced a string of revisions in the player retention rules for the ten franchises to follow.

A list directed to be submitted by all the franchises by October 31, can now include six players instead of the previous three. Of the six, a maximum of two and a minimum of one player have to be uncapped.

Alongside, there are no limitations in retaining overseas and Indian players. The sides can also use their Right to Match (RTM) retention card to keep up to six players in their team at the time of auctions.

Retention Slots breakdown:

First - 18 crore

Second - 14 crore

Third - 11 crore

Fourth - 18 crore

Fifth - 14 crore

Uncapped player - 4 crore

Probable retention scenarios for the teams:

Chennai Super Kings

With the uncapped player rule in place, CSK would be delighted to keep M S Dhoni on their retention list. Moreover, a team laden with young talent may give out heavy paychecks for its probable targets.

First - Ruturaj Gaikwad

Second - Shivam Dube

Third - Matheesha Pathirana

Fourth - Ravindra Jadeja

Uncapped -  Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Remaining RTMs - 1

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

The side has star Indian batter Virat Kohli as well as ace bowler Mohammad Siraj, and will now be in search of a new captain as the prospect of continuing with Faf Du Plesis could be unlikely.

First - Virat Kohli

Second - Mohd Siraj

Third - Rajat Patidar

Remaining RTMs - 3

Mumbai Indians

As a star-studded eleven, MI would want all their big guns to continue donning the blue jersey for the upcoming seasons. For this, major slot allocations are to be made in the price categories, and the Ambani-owned side would also require a good auction to fulfil all the departments.

First - Hardik Pandya

Second - Rohit Sharma

Third - Tilak Verma

Fourth - Jasprit Bumrah

Fifth - Suryakumar Yadav

Uncapped - Nehal Wadhera

Remaining RTMs - 0

Kolkata Knight Riders

The defending champions, who had built a side comprising a versatile set of players for their IPL 2024 campaign, will find it difficult to reshape themselves. It would also be highly unlikely that the team’s big kitty buy of 24 crore, Mitchell Starc, finds his way among the players being retained.

First - Andre Russell

Second - Shreyas Iyer

Third (likely)- Harshit Rana

Fourth - Sunil Narine

Fifth - Rinku Singh

Remaining RTMs - 0

Sunrisers Hyderabad

The runners-up in the previous season, the SRH were successful in setting a precedent for aggressive batting in the tournament. They would potentially keep their firebrand players in their side, including their sensational skipper Pat Cummins.

First - Pat Cummins

Second - Abhishek Sharma

Third - Nitish Kumar Reddy

Fourth - Travis Head

Fifth - Heinrich Klaasen

Remaining RTMs - 1

Rajasthan Royals

RR were among the most promising sides last year but failed to capitalise on their star-studded roster. It would be up to the showrunners to decide if they intend to continue with the mix of young talent or the horde of international sensations.

First - Sanju Samson

Second - Yashasvi Jaiswal

Third - Riyan Parag

Fourth - Jos Butler

Fifth - Trent Boult

Uncapped - Sandeep Sharma

Remaining RTMs - 0

Punjab Kings

A side that will wish to conduct a thorough revamp of their camp is the PBKS. Punjab has had a slumpy run in recent seasons, and a mega auction may be to their benefit, given the fair share of the hammer goes down on their side.

First - Arshdeep Singh

Uncapped - Shashank Singh

Remaining RTMs - 4

Gujarat Titans

The absence of their former skipper Hardik Pandya haunted Gujarat the most. However, with a chance at redoing a few of their departments, the experienced coaching staff of Ashish Nehra and Gary Kirsten would want a few of the cards to fall in their favour.

First - Shubman Gill

Uncapped - Rahul Tewatia

Third - David Miller

Fourth - Rashid Khan

Remaining RTMs - 2

Lucknow Super Giants

One of the two youngest sides in the tournament, LSG seemed like they had much figured out in the first couple of seasons. However, with a damp in their 2024 campaign, the side may look out to mend a leaking end or two.

First - Nicholas Pooran

Second - KL Rahul

Third - Ravi Bishnoi

Uncapped - Ayush Badoni

Fifth - Mayank Yadav

Remaining RTMs - 1

Delhi Capitals

The departure of Ricky Ponting at the helm of coaching affairs might not change much of the firepower the team possesses. Along with their skipper Rishabh Pant, the team would also want to retain a few guns.

First - Rishabh Pant

Second - Axar Patel

Third - Fraser McGurk