The Indian Premier League IPL 2025 mega auction will be much more special than the previous editions. With an intense bidding war, there will be a massive upgrade in the rich-cash league’s standards in the upcoming season.
Mainly, the IPL Governing Council has introduced interesting retention guidelines highlighting that all franchises can retain upto 6 players through direct retention or using Right to Match (RTM) cards. It includes maximum retention of 5 capped and 2 uncapped players.
The last date to submit the retention list is 31st October 2024 until 5 pm IST. Also, the auction purse has been increased to INR 120 crores for the next season which is an appealing offer.
It can provide financial assistance for most popular teams with huge fan bases such as:
- Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
- Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
- Mumbai Indians (MI)
- Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
- Rajasthan Royals (RR)
Concerning Indian players, the uncapped player rule states that any cricketer who is retired hasn’t played international matches (Tests, ODIs, and T20Is), or hasn’t held a BCCI contract in the past five years can be retained under this category. The retention per uncapped player is INR 4 Crores each.
Notably, the IPL franchise that doesn’t retain any player can use six RTM cards during the mega auction. The RTM card helps the franchise to acquire back a cricketer who was part of the squad in the previous season by matching the highest possible bid.
But, the conditions vary based on the number of direct retentions before the auction such as:
- Six Retentions: Zero RTMs
- Five Retentions: 1 RTM Card
- Four Retentions: 2 RTM Cards
- And so on…
Based on the IPL retention rules, let’s find out six possible talented players that MI, CSK, RR, KKR, and RCB can retain using direct retention or RTM.
Mumbai Indians (MI):
After a disastrous IPL 2024 season, Mumbai Indians would prefer retaining these six important players:
| Player | Role | Status | Retention Mode | Positives |
| Hardik Pandya (captain) | All-rounder | Capped Player | RTM | A consistent best-finishing middle-order batter and a medium-pace bowler. |
| Suryakumar Yadav | Batsman | Capped Player | Direct Retention | Can easily accumulate runs instantly with his 360-degree batting style in the middle order. |
| Rohit Sharma | Batsman | Capped Player | Direct Retention | An explosive opening batter who can provide strong starts and accumulate huge runs in powerplay overs. |
| Tim David | Batsman | Capped Player | Direct Retention | Ability to clear boundaries easily and a solid middle order batter who can perform the best finisher’s role in death overs. |
| Piyush Chawla | Bowler | Uncapped Player | Direct Retention | A leg spinner with the ability to dominate against the opponent batters in middle overs. |
| Jasprit Bumrah | Bowler | Capped Player | Direct Retention | Core pace bowler who can restrict the opponent team’s flow of runs, particularly in death overs. |
Chennai Super Kings (CSK):
These are the positive aspects of the six key players that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) might consider while retaining ahead of the auction:
| Player | Role | Status | Retention Mode | Positives |
| Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain) | Batsman | Capped Player | Direct Retention | Consistent Opening Batter having adaptability in batting style (anchoring or accelerating the team’s innings). |
| MS Dhoni | Batsman & Wicketkeeper | Uncapped Player | Direct Retention | A Mastermind behind the stumps to guide the players and play the best finisher role batting at the lower order. |
| Ravindra Jadeja | All-rounder | Capped Player | Direct Retention | Highly reliable all-rounder to make effective contributions with bat and ball. |
| Matheesha Pathirana | Bowler | Capped Player | Direct Retention | Similar bowling action to Lasith Malinga who can bowl toe-crushing yorkers, particularly at death overs. |
| Mustafizur Rahman | Bowler | Capped Player | Direct Retention | Can prove to be the highest wicket-taker for his team by producing variations in pace bowling. |
| Daryl Mitchell | All-rounder | Capped Player | RTM | Versatile all-rounder to make the best contributions as a middle-order batter and medium pacer. |
Rajasthan Royals (RR):
Although Rajasthan Royals qualified for the IPL 2024 playoffs, their failure to reach the finals made the management prioritize the retention of these six key players:
| Player | Role | Status | Retention Mode | Positives |
| Sanju Samson (captain) | Batsman & Wicketkeeper | Capped Player | Direct Retention | A destructive top-order batter and an alert wicketkeeper with brilliant leadership skills. |
| Jos Buttler | Batsman & Wicketkeeper | Capped Player | Direct Retention | An alternative wicketkeeper and an aggressive opening batter who can provide solid starts and guide his team to set mammoth totals. |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | Batsman | Capped Player | Direct Retention | A reliable opening batter to score runs quickly in the powerplay overs. |
| Trent Boult | Bowler | Capped Player | Direct Retention | A medium pacer who can generate huge swings with the new ball and restrict the opponent team’s runs as a death overs specialist bowler |
| Riyan Parag | All-rounder | Capped Player | RTM Card | His presence can prove valuable as a middle-order batter and deliver handy contributions as a spin bowler in middle overs. |
| Kunal Rathore | Batsman & Wicketkeeper | Uncapped player | Direct Retention | His consistent performance in domestic matches makes him a promising star batsman for the franchise in the future. |
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR):
| Player | Role | Status | Retention Mode | Positives |
| Shreyas Iyer (captain) | Batsman | Capped Player | Direct Retention | A brilliant captain and a right-handed batter who can contribute crucial knocks in pressurized situations. |
| Andre Russell | All-rounder | Capped Player | Direct Retention | His explosive batting and fast bowling skills add a perfect balance to KKR’s playing XI. |
| Sunil Narine | All-rounder | Capped Player | RTM | Has the ability to change the course of the match as a left-handed opening batter and off-spin bowler |
| Philip Salt | Batsman & Wicketkeeper | Capped Player | Direct Retention | Play impactful innings as an opening batter and has best-analyzing skills as a wicketkeeper. |
| Venkatesh Iyer | All-rounder | Uncapped Player | Direct Retention | Adds depth to KKR’s batting and bowling lineup. |
| Rinku Singh | Batsman | Capped Player | Direct Retention | One of the best-finishing batters who can build consistent partnerships and accelerate his team’s score in death overs. |
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB):
Although Faf du Plessis has recently led his team Saint Lucia Kings to a sensational victory in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2024, RCB would still consider his aging factor. As a result, the franchise would prefer acquiring a young talented skipper during the auction who can lead the team on a long-term basis. Possibly, Faf might be released by retaining these six core players ahead of the mega auction:
| Player | Role | Status | Retention Mode | Positives |
| Virat Kohli | Batsman | Capped Player | Direct Retention | A long-time batsman who has shown consistency and has a track record of playing many match-winning knocks. |
| Mohammed Siraj | Bowler | Capped Player | RTM | Valuable asset for RCB due to his ability to exceptionally swing the ball and generate a huge pace. |
| Will Jacks | Batsman | Capped player | RTM | A middle-order batter with an aggressive batting style, particularly while chasing high targets. |
| Cameron Green | All-rounder | Capped player | Direct Retention | A pace-bowling all-rounder who can provide stability to RCB’s batting and bowling line-up. |
| Rajat Patidar | Batsman | Capped player | Direct Retention | Has the ability to play quickfire knocks and strengthen the middle-order batting lineup. |
| Anuj Rawat | Batsman & Wicketkeeper | Uncapped player | RTM | A batsman with power-hitting abilities as well as a second choice for wicketkeeping. |