IPL 2025 Retention: List of Players Retained by Delhi Capitals Ahead of IPL Mega Auction Over The Years

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Delhi Capitals could be tempted at making the full set of retentions after the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council announced the much-awaited rules for retention alongside the other player regulations ahead of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction.

The retention rule states that teams can retain a total of 6 players from their existing squad either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) card. This also means teams can opt to release all their players and use the RTM cards at the auction.

However, there are certain conditions. The retention is limited to a maximum of 5 capped players (either Indian or overseas), and a maximum of 2 uncapped players. The uncapped rule also has a new twist with an old rule returning after three years.

The re-instated uncapped rule allows a capped Indian player to be considered uncapped, if he has not played in International Cricket or does not have a Central Contract with BCCI in the last five calendar years.

Many teams could benefit from that rule, but Delhi Capitals does not have any player from their 2024 squad that fall in that category. However, they do have many uncapped players in their group of players from last season.

With so many tempting options, DC think-tank have a huge task at hand in the next few weeks. Three retentions could be the route they take due to the price slabs for retention, forcing them to buy back some of their mix of Indian and overseas stars using RTM cards at the auction.

DC has gone for a clean slate ahead of one of the previous mega auctions, but in all likelihood, the Delhi-based side may retain the usual suspects. The deadline for teams to announce their retentions is on October 31, 2024.

DC's Likely Retentions For 2025

• Rishabh Pant
• Axar Patel
• Abhishek Porel

DC have been part of every IPL edition since it's inception in 2008. They have also participated in the retention process ahead of every mega auction held so far in IPL history like eight other teams which were part of the league from the very first edition.

DC has never won the IPL so far, reaching the final as best in 2021. Pant is one player the franchise has retained ahead of 2 mega auctions. This year they are likely to at least retain three players, including Pant and Axar, who were 2 of 4 retentions in 2022.

A mega auction has been held in 2011, 2014, 2018 and most recently in 2022, editions in which teams have gone through big changes. Here is a look at list of players who DC retained ahead of those mega auctions.

DC Retained Player List Before IPL 2011 Mega Auction

Ahead of the first-ever IPL mega auction in 2011, DC opted for a near-clean slate as they retained only their marquee player from the first three seasons, Virender Sehwag for $1.8 Million US Dollars.

DC Retained Player List Before IPL 2014 Mega Auction

Ahead of the 2014 IPL mega auction in 2011, DC opted to build from scratch as they released the entire squad from the 2013 edition. At the auction, however, they used RTM cards to buy back Kedar Jadhav for Rs 2 Crore and Shahbaz Nadeem for Rs 85 Lakh.

DC Retained Player List Before IPL 2018 Mega Auction

In 2018, DC retained Pant for Rs 8 Crore, but lost Rs 15 Crore from their purse. Similarly, the Delhi side lost Rs 11 Crore from their budget after they retained South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris for Rs 7.1 Crore.

DC also retained their soon to be captain Shreyas Iyer for Rs 7 Crore before using the RTM card option to buy two key pacers – India’s Mohammed Shami for Rs 3 Crore and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada for Rs 4.20 Crore.

DC Retained Player List Before IPL 2022 Mega Auction

In 2022 when two new teams joined the league, the Capitals, who were earlier known as Delhi Daredevils, opted to retain Pant for Rs 16 Crore, and they lost Rs 11 Crore despite retaining Axar Patel for Rs 9 Crore.

As per the retention slab rules, the Delhi team similarly saw their purse further deducted by Rs 8 Crore despite retaining Prithvi Shaw for Rs 7.5 Crore. DC finally retained South Africa speedster Anrich Nortje as their final retention for Rs 6.5 Crore.