KL Rahul sacked from Lucknow Super Giants, Shreyas Iyer left out of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League retention list sprung up multiple surprises on October 31, Thursday.
However, the most surprising bit perhaps was Rishabh Pant – the captain of Delhi Capitals, opting to try his luck in the mega-auctions set to be held later in the year.
Pant, one of the rising stars of Indian and world cricket, is expected to do great things in the near future. So, Delhi’s decision to let Pant go can be considered not only brave but some might argue a little stupid as well. However, DC stuck to their guns, the players they thought would be the future of the franchise. And just like DC, several other teams took harsh decisions in order to secure the future of their team.
So, here’s a look at the top 10 talking points from the Indian Premier League Retentions, announced on October 31, Thursday.
1. Rishabh Pant enters IPL Auction
A few days ago when Rishabh Pant asked on his Twitter account ‘how much money would he fetch if he were to enter the IPL auction’, many thought that it was a joke. Afterall, Pant had just recovered from a near-fatal injury and had returned to the Delhi Capitals line-up after skipping the entire 2023 season. Pant in fact was in the dugout back in 2023, aiding the team’s morale from the stands.
And hence, when the retention list was announced, it came as a shock to many.
Pant entering the IPL auction will have massive implications. Teams like CSK are already reported to be in touch with him, planning the succession plan of MS Dhoni. While, on the other hand, teams like Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings definitely have the purse in hand to chase Pant as well.
But on thing’s for sure, Rishabh Pant might definitely be one most expensive players in the mega-auction this season.
2. Big captains sacked ft. KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer
In the entire history of the IPL auctions never have these many captains been sacked or been left out in a single season. Shikhar Dhawan, Faf du Plessis, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant have left their roles, willing or unwillingly.
The decision was possibly extremely harsh on Shreyas Iyer, who has not gotten sacked twice after reaching the final of the tournament. In Delhi, Iyer had to exit from his role after DC thought Rishabh Pant to be the correct man for the job and now, the Mumbai-born has been forced to leave Kolkata Knight Riders due to unknown reasons.
The most blatant one has however been of Rahul. The batter got a dressing-down from Lucknow Super Giants CEO Sanjeev Goenka in the middle of the tournament last season and now Goenka himself has come out and made a statement which is extremely stinging in nature.
“It was a process that Zaheer Khan, Justin Langer and the analyst and the CEO engaged in for a while and we all had a joint discussion. And that discussion wasn’t too long, I mean we had a simple mindset to go in with the players who have a mindset to win, who put the team before their personal goals and personal aspirations. We wanted to retain as much of our core as we could within the available purse,” Goenka told the IPL broadcaster.
One hopes that these left out captains find places worthy of their stature in the upcoming season of the tournament.
3. Rajasthan Royals Trust in Indian Core
With the return of Rahul Dravid to the helm, the Jaipur-based franchise have put faith in their Indian core. Rajasthan have opted to keep all 6 players, losing the most amount of money in retentions. In the process, they also left out Jos Buttler, one of the greatest white-ball batters in the current era – definitely one of the hardest calls that any franchise has had to make this year.
However, no one will complain if the team manages to build a strong unit for the next 5 years around this Indian core.
4. Jasprit Bumrah gets his due in MI
India pacer Jasprit Bumrah has finally gotten his due. After the franchise opted to sideline him and brought in Hardik Pandya as the captain, Bumrah was made the top retention ahead of the IPL 2025 mega-auction. The franchise carefully kept Bumrah ahead (Rs 18 crore), putting Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharna and Suryakumar Yadav in and around the 16-crore range.
5. RCB: Trust in Virat Kohli
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are one of the franchises who opted to release their captain. Director of Cricket Mo Babat was coy while talking about the captaincy option for the next season. But as things stand, Virat Kohli is the top retention of the side at Rs 21 crore. The team decided to keep Rajat Patidar and Yash Dayal as well and one would be excited to see, with a near clean-slate, what RCB managed to do with the Rs 80+ crore purse this season.
6. MS Dhoni retained as uncapped player
One of the retention rules that divided the fans was IPL allowing teams to retain players as uncapped internationals if they had not played cricket for their country in the last 5 years (at the start of the next IPL season). Many argued that the rule was brought back to help ease out Chennai Super Kings’ process to keep MS Dhoni.
And as we saw on Thursday, MS Dhoni indeed was CSK’s sole uncapped retention. While the fans would love to see MS Dhoni play a few more years in the iconic yellow, it remains to be seen if the IPL will continue with this rule. If they do actually snub it once again, then surely one has to question the integrity of the whole system.
7. Mayank gets 11 Crore After 73 balls
73 balls, 73 balls is all it took for Mayank Yadav to go from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 11 crore. The Delhi-born speedster is one of the most exciting talents in the country but it is absolutely mind-boggling how LSG have managed to pay Rs 11 crore for a pacer that they could not keep fit for 4 games in the previous season.
Taking nothing away from Mayank though. The pacer worked hard to get his due in the IPL and since then has been fast-tracked into the Indian national team. But one has to say, LSG might have been better off without this one.
8. Rinku Headlines KKR retentions
One of the greatest stories of the Indian Premier League, Rinku Singh was made the top retention of the side – ahead of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine – stalwarts in T20 cricket and at KKR. The incredible gesture from KKR might be forgotten in time but surely highlights what an incredible product the Indian league is and how it can overnight change a person’s life in this country.
9. SRH Retain Strong Overseas Core
Any team that reaches the final of the tournament a season before the mega-auction would find it tricky to retain the correct members. But SunRisers Hyderabad perhaps have done a decent job at it. They might have paid a premium for Heinrich Klaasen at Rs 23 crore, but the understanding of Pat Cummins to drop himself down to Rs 18 crore and Nitish Reddy to fix himself at Rs 6 crore despite getting the India cap has helped the franchise build a solid core that they can play around.
Alongside Klaasen and Cummins, SRH have retained Travis Head as well. This will ideally help the franchise maintain their brand as they begin a journey in the next phase of the tournament.
10. Another reset for PBKS
At the very end of this list for a reason, but it is once again the same story for Punjab Kings. They have once again hit the reset button, sacking their captains, their top batters. PBKS have retained two uncapped India stars Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran and will try their luck once again at the auction, reportedly set to be held in November.
