IPL 2025 Retention: Released or Retained? What has Happened to Ten Most Expensive Buys of IPL 2024?

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The curtain of the road to IPL 2025 has risen on Thursday (October 31) as the franchises have announced their retention list ahead of the mega auction.

The 10 IPL franchises have picked the list of players who will be moving along with them for the upcoming IPL cycle, while the majority of the players from last season will be up for auction later in November. Punjab Kings, in contrast, have kept only two uncapped players and will go into the auction with a whopping Rs 109.5 crore kitty.

The IPL 2024 auction saw the numbers breached by a mile as franchises splashed the money to bring in key players to bolster their squads. But ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, only two teams - Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) have utilized their full quota of six retentions.

The attraction of the IPL auctions is undeniable, with teams engaging in intense bidding wars to acquire the services of cricket's elite. This pursuit is not just about building a strong team but also about the prestige of having top-tier talent in one's roster. But many of the top buys from previous auction have failed to exert the expected impact, and hence have found themselves in the released list.

How have the IPL 2024 Top Earners Fared in IPL 2025 Retentions?

But if the IPL 2024 auction is to be seen, only two of the top ten buys from last year's auction have been retained ahead of IPL 2025.

Kolkata Knight Riders went on to buy Australian pacer Mitchell Starc for a whopping Rs 24.75 crore, a record fee in the history of IPL. But Starc has been released. Uncapped batter Sameer Rizvi was roped in by CSK last year for Rs 8.40 crore, who has been released as well.

Pat Cummins, who was roped in for Rs 20.5 crore by Sunrisers Hyderabad, is the only capped player who has found a deal as the Orange Army have kept him for Rs 18 crore. On the other hand, Gujarat Titans have retained the services of Shahrukh Khan for Rs 4 crore.

IPL 2025 Retention: The Status of Top 10 Buys of IPL 2024 Auction