KKR release Shreyas Iyer; DC part ways with Rishabh Pant

Kolkata Knight Riders have officially stated that they have let go of their title-winning captain, Shreyas Iyer. As Cricbuzz reported earlier, Shreyas proved to be a tough negotiator for KKR and the franchise decided to move on from him. Shreyas was with KKR for three seasons starting 2022. After much speculation that KKR might release Andre Russell, Cricbuzz reported that the West Indies all-rounder was in fact retained, which has now been confirmed by the franchise. He has been retained by the 2024 champions along with Sunil Narine (12 crores), Rinku Singh (13 crores), Varun CV (12 crores) and the uncapped duo of Ramandeep Singh (4 crores) and Harshit Rana (4 crores). KKR are among the two who retained all six and, thus, have no spare RTM for the auction that’s about to take place.

No retention for Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul

Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals have parted ways with Rishabh Pant after long negotiations, including a meeting held last evening, to try and rope him in for three years but the talks went in vain. Pant started his IPL career with the Delhi franchise in 2016 and has been with them ever since. They have decided to keep spin duo Axar Patel (16.50 crores) and Kuldeep Yadav (13.25 crores) along with young South African batsmen Tristan Stubbs (10 crores) and Abhishek Porel (4 crores) as their uncapped retentions.

Like DC, LSG have also made the big decision to let go of their Indian stalwart – KL Rahul after a mediocre season earlier this year. They have also spent big on retaining current T20 player Nicholas Pooran for Rs 21 crores. Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi (11 crores) and pacer Mayank Yadav (11 crores), who were recently added to the squad, have also been retained. Apart from this, two uncapped retention players have also been retained, which include middle-order batsman Ayush Badoni (4 crores) and pacer Mohsin Khan (4 crores).

Heinrich Klaasen gets Rs 23 crore; CSK retains five

According to a Cricbuzz report, Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad have retained five players each. After months of waiting, MS Dhoni gave the green signal about his participation in the IPL and became one of the five retention players of CSK. Apart from Dhoni (4 crores), CSK has retained Ruturaj Gaikwad (18 crores), Ravindra Jadeja (18 crores), Shivam Dube (12 crores) and Mathisha Pathirana (13 crores). Since Dhoni is eligible for uncapped retention based on the new rules implemented by the BCCI, he can use his RTM card on a capped player in the auction. Meanwhile, SRH made a lot of money by re-signing Heinrich Klaasen for Rs 23 crore. They have also retained captain Pat Cummins (18 crore), Abhishek Sharma (14 crore), Travis Head (14 crore) and Nitish Reddy (6 crore). With all of them being capped, SRH’s RTM can only be used on an uncapped player.

No Jos Buttler for RR

An interesting decision from Rajasthan Royals was not to retain Jos Buttler. The England white-ball captain is currently out of action and hasn’t played since June this year due to a calf injury. He will be available to any interested franchise as the Royals will have no RTM to use in the auction, as they have six retentions – Sanju Samson (18 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (18 crore), Riyan Parag (14 crore), Dhruv Jurel (14 crore), Shimron Hetmyer (11 crore) and Sandeep Sharma (4 crore), who, like Dhoni, qualify as uncapped players. Along with Buttler, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult and R Ashwin could also find multiple buyers in the auction, including RR themselves.

Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah get top billing

Gujarat Titans have also retained five of their players – including two uncapped picks in the form of Rahul Tewatia (4 crore) and Shahrukh Khan (4 crore). Apart from the two obvious retentions of Rashid Khan (18 crore) and Shubman Gill (16.5 crore), GT has also put its faith in impressive top-order batsman Sai Sudharsan (8.5 crore), who scored 527 runs at a strike rate of 141.29 in IPL 2024. Despite their wooden spoon finish in IPL 2024, MI had a plethora of options as far as retentions go. They have decided to retain five of them in Jasprit Bumrah (18 crore), Hardik Pandya (16.35 crore), Suryakumar Yadav (16.35 crore), Rohit Sharma (16.30 crore) and Tilak Verma (8 crore). Like SRH, they go into the auction with an RTM that can only be exercised on an uncapped player.

Virat Kohli retained for INR 21 crore; PBKS retain two uncapped heroes

Royal Challengers Bangalore did not retain Faf du Plessis, their captain of the last three seasons, and also dropped veteran pacer Mohammed Siraj. Instead they have retained uncapped left-armer Yash Dayal (5 crore) along with Rajat Patidar (11 crore) and Virat Kohli – who is priced at Rs 21 crore. There was no talk of retaining Cameron Green, bought from Mumbai Indians for Rs 17 crore last year, as the Australian all-rounder was recently injured in a surgery for a lower back fracture.