Who are the most expensive IPL retentions ahead of 2025 mega-auction?

The Indian Premier League retention lists are out. The franchise have made multiple surprising calls as they dropped several captains from their sides, including the likes of Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul. Here's a look at players who earned the most money from IPL retentions.

In Short

• The IPL retention list was announced on Thursday, 31 October
• Heinrich Klaasen was the most expensive player at Rs 23 crore
• Pacer Mayank Yadav had a massive day out at Rs 11 crore

The Indian Premier League franchises released their list of retentions on Thursday, 31 October. The franchises shelled an incredible amount of money to retain their top players and put faith in young and upcoming stars. Apart from Punjab Kings, who retained just two players, most of the franchises tried to keep their core ahead of the mega-auction, set to take place in the months of November and December.

Rajasthan Royals shelled out an incredible amount of money to keep their 6-player core intact and now only have a Rs 41 crore left for the mega-auction. On the other hand, Punjab Kings go into the auction with Rs 110.5 crore and are likely to outbid most of the franchises if they get into a tussle for a player.

Heinrich Klaasen earned the best payday on October 31, as SunRisers Hyderabad shelled out an incredible Rs 23 crore to keep their South African wicketkeeper-batter. On the other hand Virat Kohli was valued as the most expensive Indian player after Royal Challengers Bengaluru paid Rs 21 crore to retain the player.

IPL Retention: Live Updates

Despite the cap for retentions set at Rs 18, 14, 11, 18 and 14 crore, the franchise played around with their money as per the need and demand of the player in the Indian Premier League ecosystem. On that note, here are most expensive players from IPL player retentions, announced on October 31.

Rs 23 crore - Heinrich Klaasen
Rs 21 crore - Virat Kohli, Nicholas Pooran
Rs 18 crore - Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Pat Cummins, Rashid Khan
Rs 16.5 crore - Axar Patel, Shubman Gill

Here's the list of complete retentions from each franchise and the purse that they have remaining ahead of the mega-auction.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) - Rs 51 crore

Retentions: Sunil Narine (12), Rinku Singh (13), Andre Russell (12), Varun Chakaravarthy (12), Harshit Rana (4) and Ramandeep Singh (4).

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) - Rs 45 crore

Retentions: Heinrich Klaasen (23), Pat Cummins (18), Travis Head (14), Abhishek Sharma (14) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (6).

Rajasthan Royals (RR) - Rs 41 crore

Retentions: Sanju Samson (18), Riyan Parag (14), Yashasvi Jaiswal (18), Sandeep Sharma (4), Dhruv Jurel (14) and Shimron Hetmyer (11).

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) - Rs 83 crore

Retentions: Virat Kohli (21), Rajat Patidar (11) and Yash Dayal (5).

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) - Rs 55 crore

Retentions: Ruturaj Gaikwad (18), MS Dhoni (4), Ravindra Jadeja (18), Shivam Dube (12), Matheesha Pathirana (13).

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) - Rs 69 crore

Retentions: Nicholas Pooran (21), Mayank Yadav (11), Ravi Bishnoi (4), Mohsin Khan (4), Ayush Badoni (4).

Gujarat Titans (GT) - Rs 69 crore

Retentions: Rashid Khan (18), Shubman Gill (16.5), Sai Sudharsan (8.5), Rahul Tewatia (4), Shahrukh Khan (4).

Delhi Capitals (DC) - Rs 73 crore

Retentions: Axar Patel (16.5), Abhishek Porel (4), Tristan Stubbs (10), Kuldeep Yadav (13.5)

Punjab Kings (PBKS) - Rs 110.5 crore

Retentions: Shashank Singh (5.5) and Prabhsimran Singh (4).

Mumbai Indians (MI) - Rs 45 crore

Retentions: Rohit Sharma (16.3), Jasprit Bumrah (18), Suryakumar Yadav (16.35), Tilak Varma (8), Hardik Pandya (16.35).