IPL Retention 2025: Overseas Players Retained Before Mega Auction, Who is Highest Earner Among Foreigners?

IPL Retention 2025: As the IPL 2025 mega auction approaches, teams are finalising their rosters through player retention. Among the notable overseas players retained are Sunil Narine of Kolkata Knight Riders and Matheesha Pathirana from Chennai Super Kings, both of whom have proven to be valuable assets for their respective franchises.

Sunrisers Hyderabad have retained as many as three foreign players while some of the major franchises opted for no overseas players. Let's take a look at the full list of overseas players and who earned the most among them

IPL Retention 2025 Overseas Players Retained — Photo: PTI

Player	Franchise	Earnings
Heinrich Klaasen (SA)	Sunrisers Hyderabad	₹23 Cr
Nicholas Pooran (WI)	Lucknow Super Giants	₹21 Cr
Rashid Khan (AFG)	Gujarat Titans	₹18 Cr
Pat Cummins (AUS)	Sunrisers Hyderabad	₹18 Cr
Travis Head (AUS)	Sunrisers Hyderabad	₹14 Cr
Matheesha Pathirana (SL)	Chennai Super Kings	₹13 Cr
Sunil Narine (WI)	Kolkata Knight Riders	₹12 Cr
Andre Russell (WI)	Kolkata Knight Riders	₹12 Cr
Tristan Stubbs (AUS)	Delhi Capitals	₹10 Cr

Also read: IPL Retention 2025: Major Captaincy Shifts as Teams Restructure for the Mega Auction

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), the finalists of IPL 2024, have strategically retained their core overseas players, focusing on a mix of experience and potential. They retained three overseas stars. Heinrich Klaasen (23 Cr) from South Africa, who has been pivotal in the middle order, Pat Cummins (18 Cr), the Australian captain, known for his leadership and bowling prowess and Travis Head (14 Cr), another Australian, who adds depth to the batting lineup.

In addition to these overseas players, they kept local talents like Abhishek Sharma (14 Cr) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (6 Cr). This retention strategy allows SRH to maintain a competitive edge while ensuring a substantial budget for the auction.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) opted not to retain key players like captain Faf du Plessis and right-arm pacer Mohammed Siraj. The retained players include Virat Kohli (21 Cr), whose performance continues to be pivotal for the franchise. Rajat Patidar (11 Cr) and Yash Dayal (4 Cr, uncapped) round out their retention list.

Rajasthan Royals, under the guidance of coach Rahul Dravid, have decided to keep a core squad while parting ways with several key players. They retained Sanju Samson (18 Cr) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (18 Cr), who are crucial for their batting lineup but opted against any overseas, going without their star opener Jos Buttler. Other retained players include Riyan Parag (7 Cr), Dhruv Jurel (4 Cr), and Sandeep Sharma (4 Cr).