Top 10 Costliest IPL Retentions Ahead of Mega Auction 2025 Featuring Klaasen, Kohli & Bumrah

Heinrich Klaasen is the most expensive Indian Premier League retention as the South African wicketkeeper-batter was retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for Rs 23 Crore ahead of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction.

According to the player regulations, the top retention would have cost a franchise Rs 18 Crore from their budget of Rs 120 Crore. But some teams went over that limit to snap up their top players.

Klaasen is also the costliest retention ahead of a mega auction in IPL history with the previous highest being Rs 17 Crore at which Virat Kohli and KL Rahul were retained before the 2018 and 2022 big auctions respectively.

While Rahul was drafted in by Lucknow Super Giants before their maiden appearance in the lucrative league in 2022, Kohli was retained by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in 2018. Kohli also became the joint-second most expensive retention ahead of 2025 auction.

The star Indian batter extended his stay with RCB by further three years after being retained for Rs 21 Crore, the same amount at which LSG retained West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran.

The trio were the only players to cross the Rs 20 Crore-mark, while seven players were retained for the price slab of Rs 18 Crore, making them the joint-third costliest player retentions ahead of the IPL Auction.

Jasprit Bumrah and Pat Cummins were the two pacers that bagged Rs 18 Crore retentions from Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad respectively. Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals retained two players at Rs 18 Crore.

Afghanistan's premier spinner Rashid Khan was the lone specialist tweaker to be retained for Rs 18 Crore. Rashid was the top retention for Gujarat Titans, who retained five players ahead of the retention deadline on Thursday (October 31).

Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal were among the top two in RR's six retentions, while Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ravindra Jadeja were the the two top retentions in CSK's five retained players list. Here is a look at the most expensive retained players before IPL Auction 2025:

Top 10 Costliest IPL Retentions Ahead of Mega Auction 2025

Heinrich Klaasen (Sunrisers Hyderabad) - Rs 23 Crore
Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) - Rs 21 Crore
Nicholas Pooran (Lucknow Super Giants) - Rs 21 Crore
Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians) - Rs 18 Crore
Rashid Khan (Gujarat Titans) - Rs 18 Crore
Pat Cummins (Sunrisers Hyderabad) - Rs 18 Crore
Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings) - Rs 18 Crore
Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals) - Rs 18 Crore
Ruturj Gaikwad (Chennai Super Kings) - Rs 18 Crore
Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rajasthan Royals) - Rs 18 Crore

While these 10 players were the top costliest retentions, there were sevral others who ended up being retained above Rs 15 Crore despite the second slab being Rs 14 Crore. Mumbai Indians, in fact retained three players around that price slab.

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Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya were retained for Rs 16.35 Crore each, while Rohit Sharma was retained for Rs 16 Crore. Shubman Gill and Axar Patel also were retained above the Rs 16 Crore range.

Both possible captains of their respective sides, Axar and Gill were retained for Rs 16.50 Crore each. Earlier, Rahul and Kohli's retention at Rs 17 Crore before the 2018 and 2022 auctions were the top costliest retentions in IPL history.

The top 10 costliest players retained, however, are not the most expensive player in IPL history. That feat is held by Australian pacer Mitchell Starc, who was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2024 auction for a whopping Rs 24.75 Crore.

The Rs 20 Crore barrier could be breached again at the IPL 2025 Mega Auction with the likes of Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul entering the auction. Starc also returns into the auction, having been released by KKR.