Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy for the third time in the 2024 season under Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy and Gautam Gambhir’s mentorship. As the 2025 mega auction is on its way, the defending champions would be eager to acquire talented players in the squad to defend their IPL title.
The IPL Governing Council (GC) has released the new retention rules for the auction this year by allowing every franchise to retain upto six players from the current squad. It includes the traditional retention method or Right to Match (RTM) cards.
Using the RTM cards, players released from the existing squad can be acquired by the same team or other competitors matching the highest bid during the auction.
Furthermore, the uncapped-player rule makes its comeback which allows the franchise to retain a cricketer who hasn’t played for the national team, retired from international cricket, or hasn’t bonded with the national contract for the past five years.
Most importantly, franchises are limited to retaining a maximum of five capped (including Indian or Overseas) and two uncapped players.
The fundamentals behind implementing the number of RTMs are straightforward. For example, if KKR retains four out of six players such as Shreyas Iyer, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Phil Salt, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi through direct retentions, then they will have the choice to make use of two RTMs (6-2=4). If KKR opts to retain all six players through simple retentions, then there would be zero RTMs.
Let’s delve deeper to find out the six expected players to be included in the retention list of KKR ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, which includes the combination of 5 capped and 1 uncapped player.
1. Shreyas Iyer (RTM Card):
KKR captain Shreyas Iyer remains a clear choice as he led the team to the third championship title. The 29-year-old right-handed batter scored 3,127 runs in 115 matches including a batting average of 32.24 and a strike rate of 127.48.
However, the IPL 2024 winning captain hasn’t been in his best form in recent times by failing to score huge runs in India’s 3-match ODI series against Sri Lanka as well as the recently concluded Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup. Considering his proven leadership skills and the ability to score runs in the middle overs, the franchise would possibly retain Iyer for a lower price using the RTM card.
2. Andre Russell (Direct Retention):
The highly talented West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell has made effective contributions to KKR in the past few years. His explosive batting style at the lower order and variation-filled pace bowling have helped turn games in his team’s favor on several occasions. With 2,484 runs in 105 innings and 115 wickets in 112 innings, Russell stands out as a prime retention option for KKR before the 2025 mega auction.
3. Rinku Singh (Direct Retention):
Rinku Singh is another promising candidate who has been one of the main reasons for KKR’s success. The 26-year-old left-handed batter has the flexibility to bat in the middle and lower middle order in the IPL. Especially, in high-pressure situations, Rinku is one such dependable batter, who can guide the team to a competitive total or chase down the targets.
Overall, the young Indian cricketer with his best finishing skills at death overs is another name in the retention list for Kolkata Knight Riders that is difficult to release ahead of the mega auction.
4. Sunil Narine (Direct Retentions):
The former West Indies all-rounder Sunil Narine is the core opening batter that KKR wouldn’t take a chance to miss out. He had a successful IPL 2024 season scoring 488 runs in 14 matches, including 3 fifties and a hundred, thereby ranking as the ninth-highest run scorer of the tournament. As a spin bowler, he grabbed 17 wickets in 14 matches, which proves him an effective contributor with the bat and ball in KKR’s third IPL title win.
5. Angkrish Raghuvanshi (RTM Card):
The uncapped Indian cricketer Angkrish Raghuvanshi could be retained by KKR using the RTM card. The 19-year-old all-rounder scored 163 runs in limited opportunities received during IPL 2024, which includes a fiery half-century of 54 runs. In 10 matches, he maintained an average of 23.29 and a strike rate of 155.24. Possibly, the uncapped player could be retained using the RTM card to strategically manage their funds to acquire high-profile players.
6. Phil Salt (Direct Retentions):
Phil Salt is another KKR’s opening batter who delivered a magnificent performance in IPL 2024. The 28-year-old English wicketkeeper batter scored 435 runs in 12 innings but had to leave the 17th season midway to fulfill national commitments. The franchise would certainly retain one of its top-scoring batters to strengthen its batting lineup to the next level.
↻ A New Beginning for Rising Talents: Mayank Yadav & Nitish Reddy
