Three captains, including Rishabh Pant, were not retained by their Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises ahead of the mega auction set for November. However, in a major relief for fans of the Chennai Super Kings, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been retained, confirming his place with the team for the upcoming season.
All 10 franchises have announced their core player retentions for the 2025 season, with some of the biggest omissions including Shreyas Iyer, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to their third title in Season 17 this past May, and KL Rahul, who had drawn criticism from Lucknow Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka.
Goenka’s clear criteria for retention
“The first retention was an automatic choice and happened within two minutes, that is Nicholas Pooran. We had a very simple mindset to go in with players who have a mindset to win, who put the team before their personal goals and aspirations,” said Goenka. He had a lively discussion with skipper Rahul following their loss to SunRisers Hyderabad by 10 wickets.
Mumbai Indians keep their core five
Four-time champions Mumbai Indians opted to retain five key players: Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tilak Varma. Four of these players have played pivotal roles in multiple title-winning campaigns, consistently driving the team’s success, while Tilak Varma is seen as one of the league’s most promising young talents.
“Every year is a special year, and this one is going to be even more special. Five people who have cherished good memories together have been retained. We are five fingers, but one fist. That’s how I look at it. We are going to back each other no matter what,” Pandya shared on social media platform X.
Big players not retained: Ishan Kishan, Tim David.
Punjab Kings (2): Shashank Singh, Prabhsimran Singh.
Big players not retained: Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Sam Curran, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (3)
Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal
Big players not retained: Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Faf du Plessis, Cameron Green.
Rajasthan Royals (6): Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Sandeep Sharma.
Big players not retained: Yuzvendra Chahal, Jos Buttler, Trent Boult and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (5): Heinrich Klaasen, Pat Cummins, Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Big players not retained: Washington Sundar, T. Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Chennai Super Kings (5): Ruturaj Gaikwad, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja MS Dhoni.
Big players not retained: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande.
Delhi Capitals (4): Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Abishek Porel.
Big players not retained: Rishabh Pant, David Warner, Anrich Nortje.
Gujarat Titans (5): Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan.
Big players not retained: Mohammed Shami, David Miller.
Kolkata Knight Riders (6): Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, Ramandeep Singh.
Big players not retained: Shreyas Iyer, Mitchell Starc, Phil Salt, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana.
Lucknow Super Giants (5): Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni.
Big players not retained: KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, Quinton de Kock, Krunal Pandya.
Mumbai Indians have been home to Rohit Sharma since 2011, Jasprit Bumrah since 2013, Suryakumar Yadav for nine IPL seasons, Hardik Pandya for eight campaigns, and Tilak Varma since 2022. This enduring connection reflects the players’ dedication and their shared commitment to Mumbai Indians’ values. As the core of the team, they embody the MI spirit of resilience and excellence, with a unified goal of taking the team to new heights.
In a statement released by Reliance, Akash Ambani of Mumbai Indians said: “We have always believed that the strength of a family lies in its core, and recent events have only reinforced this belief. We are thrilled that the strong legacy of MI will be carried forward...
“Over the past month, the MI core group, together with our coaching staff, has collaborated closely to establish a shared vision for MI. This unified effort reinforces MI’s commitment to building trust and ownership among our core group, fans, and other stakeholders. We will continue to strive for the passionate brand of cricket that everyone expects from us.”
Key omissions: Pant, Shreyas and Rahul
In a surprising turn, Pant and Shreyas did not receive the support of their respective franchises.
“In Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, and Abishek Porel, we have the ideal blend of experience and youth, and I am very pleased with our retentions. Our intent is to build a strong and balanced squad that can bring home a much-awaited IPL trophy to our city,” said Parth Jindal, team co-owner.
Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore echoed a similar sentiment: “The no-brainers would have been maybe 10 or 11 players, but trying to trim that down to six was very challenging, because it’s about the players that you have built an equation with and who have done fantastic for KKR.”
While Pant, Shreyas, and Rahul look for new teams, Dhoni continues his innings with five-time champions Chennai Super Kings. The 43-year-old former India captain has been retained as an uncapped player along with skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, and Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana.
“I just want to enjoy whatever last few years of cricket I am able to play, like when we used to go out to play at 4 pm during our childhood, simply enjoying the game. But in professional sport, it becomes challenging to enjoy it as just a game. There are emotions and commitments, but I want to enjoy it for the next few years,” Dhoni said.
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