5 best value-for-money retentions ahead of IPL 2025 auction ft. MS Dhoni
On Thursday, October 31, all 10 franchises announced their final retentions ahead of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction. The auction is slated to take place later this month and will witness experienced veterans as well as talented youngsters going under the hammer.
Interestingly, IPL 2024 captains like Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Faf du Plessis were released from their respective franchises. It all came down to failed negotiations, price tag issues and the future outlook of the owners.
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals used their full quota of six retentions. Meanwhile, other teams will have opportunities to use the Right-to-Match card and also make significant purchases at the auction. Notably, the Punjab Kings retained only two players and have a remaining purse of ₹110.5 crore.
On that note, let's take a look at a few of the players who were top value-for-money retentions by the franchises.
#1 MS Dhoni - ₹4 crore
Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni was retained by the franchise as an uncapped player. As a result, he is set to receive an amount of ₹4 crore for his participation in the 2025 season.
The amount is a steal for the Chennai-based franchise as they are getting a veteran in Dhoni, who has helped them lift five titles. He most recently led the franchise to a title victory in 2023.
Ahead of the 2024 season, Dhoni decided to pass the captaincy baton to Ruturaj Gaikwad to grow a future leader for CSK. Although the side failed to reach the playoffs, Dhoni impressed by slamming 161 runs at a strike rate of 220.54.
#2 Sandeep Sharma - ₹4 crore
Sandeep Sharma made the most of his opportunities in the last two seasons for the Rajasthan Royals (RR). As a result, he was retained as an uncapped player by RR for the 2025 season.
He came in as a replacement for Prasidh Krishna in 2023 and took 10 wickets in the season. The 2024 edition saw Sandeep coming in clutch with his tight bowling in the death overs. He went on to take 13 wickets, including his best figures of 5/18. Out of those 23 wickets for the Royals, 16 have come in death overs.
The Royals certainly put their money in the right place as they have an all-phase bowler who can take wickets with the new ball and put brakes on runs in the death overs.
#3 Shashank Singh - ₹5.5 crore
After his controversial acquisition in last year's auction, Shashank Singh made sure to prove his doubters wrong with his credible batting skills. He was the top retainee for the Punjab Kings for an amount of ₹5.5 crore.
Shashank made a strong first impression during his stint with the SunRisers Hyderabad in 2022, when he slammed a hat-trick of sixes against Lockie Ferguson. However, he could not find a permanent place in the side.
The 2024 season proved to be a career-defining campaign, where he smashed 354 runs and was the leading batter for the Kings. He smoked 68* off 28 against the Kolkata Knight Riders as the side went on to record the highest-ever successful T20 chase of 262.
#4 Nitish Kumar Reddy - ₹6 crore
Nitish Kumar Reddy has quickly turned out to be a terrific all-round prospect for the Indian team across formats. He was retained by the SunRisers Hyderabad for ₹6 crore ahead of the auction.
In IPL 2024, Reddy garnered 303 runs in 15 games at a strike rate of 142.92. He particularly impressed with his unbeaten 76-run knock against the Rajasthan Royals.
Recently, Reddy made his T20I debut against Bangladesh and justified his selection. In his second appearance, the youngster smashed 74 off 34 and returned figures of 2/23 as India went on to win the game by 86 runs.
Looking at his form and popularity, the 21-year-old would have fetched more money in the auction. Hence, SRH struck gold with his retention.
#5 Tilak Varma - ₹8 crore
One of the finest young batters, Tilak Varma was retained by the Mumbai Indians for an amount of ₹8 crore. This came on the back of his consistent showing in the last three seasons for the franchise.
In IPL 2022, Varma returned 397 runs and was one of the few bright spots for Mumbai. He followed it up with another successful season, scoring 343 runs at a strike rate of 164.11.
Varma produced his best-ever season in 2024, slamming 416 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of around 150. Apart from helping Mumbai recover from batting collapses, he has been able to increase the team's tempo with his range of shots.