5 IPL teams with the best retention choices
4. Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals won the title in the inaugural edition by defeating Chennai Super Kings in the final. Since then, they struggled to make a bid for the second title. The last time they came close to winning the title was back in the 2023 edition where they braved the challenges and made it all the way to the IPL 2022 final but lost to Gujarat Titans.
Rajasthan Royals decided to retain as many as six players on the IPL 2025 retention deadline date. They are none other than captain Sanju Samson (INR 18 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (INR 18 crore), Riyan Parag (INR 14 crore), Dhruv Jurel (INR 14 crore), Shimron Hetmyer (INR 11 crore) and Sandeep Sharma (INR 4 crore).
The Royals have spent as many as Rs 79 crore in retaining these players, which means they have Rs 41 crore left in their wallet to build their team around. In the IPL 2025 mega auction, on the other side of the coin, they have chose to let go of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Besides that, one of the major players released by the franchise is England’s white ball skipper Josh Butler. Despite being a marquee player for the team, the Royals chose to focus on retaining the young Indian talent in the first place.
5. Chennai Super Kings
Chennai Super Kings missed out on qualifying for the playoffs in the IPL 2024 season where they lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the must win encounter of the group stage. They are one of the most successful teams in the history of the tournament, with as many as five IPL titles.
The Whistle Podu Army have retained as many as five players, including their skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (INR 18 crore), Matheesha Pathirana (INR 13 crore), Ravindra Jadeja (INR 18 crore), Shivam Dube (INR 12 crore) and former CSK captain MS Dhoni (INR 4 crore). On the other side of the coin, the franchise decided to let go of New Zealand’s Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra.
Besides that, they have also chose to let go of Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande and Shardul Thakur. CSK have a remaining budget of Rs 55 crore and they will look to acquire some big names in the IPL 2025 auction. They have one capped or one uncapped player eligible for the RTM at the auction.
