IPL 2025 Retentions: MS Dhoni to take Rs 80000000 salary cut, Rohit Sharma pay down by Rs 20000000 and KL Rahul sacked
The action is hotting up in the Indian Premier League (IPL) ahead of Retention Day before the IPL 2025 mega auction. All 10 franchises have until October 31 to finalise their retentions before they head into the two-day mega auction next month.
There are definitely going to be some big decisions with top Indian cricketers like MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma set to take major pay-cuts. Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Dhoni is likely to be the biggest loser with at least 2/3rd of his current package getting cut.
Mayank Yadav & Nitish Kumar Reddy are not uncapped players ahead of IPL RETENTIONS…!!!! pic.twitter.com/8KvHZPhul6
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 6, 2024
Here are all the predicted retentions of all 10 IPL teams ahead of IPL 2025 Retention Day…
Mumbai Indians
Six-time IPL champions will be have to battle hard to retain their former skipper and ex-India T20I captain Rohit Sharma. All-rounder Hardik Pandya replaced Rohit as MI captain but didn’t enjoy a successful time as Mumbai failed to qualify for the Playoffs stages. If Hardik is the first retention of MI for Rs 18 crore, then Rohit would need to agree to take a Rs 2 crore pay cut from his current package to become 2nd retention for Rs 14 crore.
Jasprit Bumrah is also expected to get as much as current skipper Hardik Pandya considering he is a priceless possession for MI. Indian T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav is expected to have same salary as Rohit.
No. 1 retention (Rs. 18 crore) – Hardik Pandya
No. 2 retention (Rs. 14 crore) – Rohit Sharma
No. 3 retention (Rs. 11 crore) – Tilak Verma
No. 4 retention (Rs. 18 crore) – Jasprit Bumrah
No. 5 retention (Rs. 14 crore) – Suryakumar Yadav
Uncapped retention (Rs. 4 crore) – Akash Madhwal
RTMs left – 0
Chennai Super Kings
BCCI decision to bring back the ‘uncapped’ rule in IPL retention has been aimed at helping CSK retain their talismanic former captain MS Dhoni. With the former India captain and wicketkeeper playing his final international match in 2019, Dhoni will be classified as an ‘uncapped’ player come IPL 2025.
This means CSK can retain him for Rs 4 crore under the ‘uncapped’ player category but it will mean a Rs 8 crore salary cut for ‘Thala’ down from his current pay of Rs 12 crore.
Current captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, all-rounder Shivam Dube, pacer Matheesha Pathirana, and Ravindra Jadeja are likely to be retained by CSK.
No. 1 retention (Rs. 18 crore) – Ruturaj Gaikwad
No. 2 retention (Rs. 14 crore) – Ravindra Jadeja
No. 3 retention (Rs. 11 crore) – Matheesha Pathirana
Uncapped retention (Rs. 4 crore) – MS Dhoni
RTM 1 – Shivam Dube
RTM 2 – Rachin Ravindra
Kolkata Knight Riders
They are current IPL champions but will that ensure the No. 1 retention spot worth Rs 18 crore for Shreyas Iyer? Apart from skipper Iyer, KKR will definitely retain top all-rounder Andre Russell and Sunil Narine to maintain their core squad and possibly aim to get Rinku Singh and ‘mystery spinner’ Varun Chakravarthy with the ‘RTM’ option.
Among the ‘uncapped’ player Vaibhav Arora is likely to be the pick for Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise. It means IPL’s most expensive player ever – Mitchell Starc at Rs 24.75 crore will not be retained.
No. 1 retention (Rs. 18 crore) – Shreyas Iyer
No. 2 retention (Rs. 14 crore) – Andre Russell
No. 3 retention (Rs. 11 crore) – Sunil Narine
Uncapped retention (Rs. 4 crore) – Vaibhav Arora
RTM 1 – Rinku Singh
RTM 2 – Varun Chakravarthy
Rajasthan Royals
Sanju Samson’s side are yet to win a second IPL title after winning the inaugural edition in 2008. However, Royals have reached the final in 2022 and also made the Playoffs stages in the last two IPL editions.
Skipper Samson and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has made a sensational start in his international career will definitely be their first-two picks. They can spring a surprise by keeping the RTM option for England captain Jos Buttler and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Unfortunately that will mean that there will be no place for all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin, paving the way for his possible return to CSK.
No. 1 retention (Rs. 18 crore) – Sanju Samson
No. 2 retention (Rs. 14 crore) – Yashasvi Jaiswal
No. 3 retention (Rs. 11 crore) – Riyan Parag
Uncapped (Rs. 4 crore) – Sandeep Sharma
RTM 1 – Jos Butter
RTM 2 – Yuzvendra Chahal
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Former India captain Virat Kohli’s RCB are still chasing their first-ever IPL title. There is speculation that current skipper Faf du Plessis will not be retained even though he has led his team St Lucia Kings to their maiden Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title earlier this month.
Kohli will surely be RCB’s No. 1 pick and could also make a comeback as the skipper of the franchise in the IPL 2025 season.
No. 1 retention (Rs. 18 crore) – Virat Kohli
Uncapped retention (Rs 4 crore) – Yash Dayal
RTM 1 – Mohammed Siraj
RTM 2 – Rajat Patidar
RTM 3 – Will Jacks
RTM 4 – Cameron Green
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Kaviya Maran-owned franchise had a sensational IPL 2024 season, reaching the final with their explosive show – especially with the bat. Skipper Pat Cummins led the side superbly and the SRH management are keen to hold on to the core of this side.
Cummins and his Australian teammate Travis Head are both likely to get Rs 18 crore retention slots. But it will be a Rs 2.5 crore salary cut for the Australian captain, who was bought at the IPL 2024 auction for Rs 20.5 crore.
No. 1 retention (Rs. 18 crore) – Pat Cummins
No. 2 retention (Rs. 14 crore) – Heinrich Klaasen
No. 3 retention (Rs. 11 crore) – Abhishek Sharma
No. 4 retention (Rs. 18 crore) – Travis Head
Uncapped retention (Rs. 4 crore) – Abdul Samad
RTM 1 – Bhuvneshwar Kumar
RTMs left – 1
Gujarat Titans
The IPL 2022 champions are likely to pick Afghanistan T20I skipper Rashid Khan as their No. 1 pick over current captain Shubman Gill. They will be keen to hold on to pacer Mohammad Shami for the third slot for Rs 11 crore.
They have a choice of ‘uncapped’ pick with all-rounder Rahul Tewatia and former India pacer Mohit Sharma. South African batter David Miller and batter Sai Sudarshan can be brought home with RTM option.
No. 1 retention (Rs. 18 crore) – Rashid Khan
No. 2 retention (Rs. 14 crore) – Shubman Gill
No. 3 retention (Rs. 11 crore) – Mohammad Shami
Uncapped retention (Rs. 4 crore) – Mohit Sharma/ Rahul Tewatia
RTM 1 – Sai Sudarshan
RTM 2 – David Miller
Delhi Capitals
After a disappointing IPL 2024 season, DC will look to start afresh under new head coach and return of Rishabh Pant as full-time captain. Indian wicketkeeper is going to be DC’s No. 1 pick for sure with all-rounder Axar Patel also likely to be retained for Rs 14 crore.
Impressive Bengal wicketkeeper-batter Abhishek Porel can be retained as an ‘uncapped’ player with Tristan Stubbs and Jake Fraser McGurk brought home as RTM options.
No. 1 retention (Rs. 18 crore) – Rishabh Pant
No. 2 retention (Rs. 14 crore) – Axar Patel
Uncapped (Rs. 4 crore) – Abhishek Porel
RTM 1 – Kuldeep Yadav
RTM 2 – Tristan Stubbs
RTM 3 – Jake Fraser-McGurk
Punjab Kings
Preity Zinta co-owned PBKS are unlikely to retain a lot of players with new coach Ricky Ponting keen on starting with a clean slate. England all-rounder Sam Curran, who replaced Shikhar Dhawan as captain last season, is likely to be their only retention as they will like to use the RTM option judiciously.
No. 1 retention (Rs 18 crore) – Sam Curran
Uncapped retention (Rs 4 crore) – Ashutosh Sharma
Uncapped retention (Rs 4 crore) – Shashank Singh
RTM 1 – Arshdeep Singh
RTM 2 – Kagiso Rabada
RTM 3 – Liam Livingstone
Lucknow Super Giants
Faf du Plessis is not the only skipper likely to be sacked with LSG set to part ways with KL Rahul as well. Although the Karnataka batter met owner Sanjiv Goenka couple of months back, he hasn’t got any confirmation of whether he will be retained by the Lucknow franchise. There is speculation that West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran could be given charge of the LSG team in IPL 2025/
No. 1 retention (Rs. 18 crore) – Nicholas Pooran
No. 2 retention (Rs. 14 crore) – Ravi Bishnoi
No. 3 retention (Rs. 11 crore) – Mayank Yadav
Uncapped retention (Rs. 4 crore) – Ayush Badoni
RTM 1 – Quinton de Kock
RTMs Left – 2