IPL 2025 Retention Highlights: Report Says LSG Release KL Rahul Because...

KL Rahul's inability to adapt to the ever-changing dynamics of T20 batting cost him his retention at Lucknow Super Giants with the franchise opting for an alpha finisher in Nicholas Pooran as per the preferences of head coach Justin Langer and mentor Zaheer Khan, said a PTI report. "The only consideration at LSG was performance in the last three years and especially Rahul's own batting style and strike rate which are important variables while a decision is arrived at," a source tracking development in LSG told PTI on Wednesday. "So Langer and Zaheer sat with all the numbers... Rahul's SR for three years with LSG is 136.13 (616 runs), 113.23 (274) and 135.38 (520). In today's T20, when even Indian team had to change its philosophy, these numbers weren't acceptable," the source added.

While nothing is official, several reports have claimed that there might be a remote chance of Risbabh Pant entering the IPL 2025 auction pool. Former India batter Aakash Chopra feels that he would fetch a massive sum. The price could even go to Rs 25 crore to 30 crore. "It's being heard that Rishabh Pant might be available at the auction. He is a keeper-batter. Although the jury is out, many people say his numbers in T20s are not that good, had only one breakthrough season in the IPL and hasn't scored too many runs apart from that. I can give you in writing that the bank would be broken if his name comes in the auction," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

The players named by RCB in the puzzle are Virat Kohli, Mohammed Siraj, Rajat Patidar, Faf du Plessis, Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Yash Dayal and Will Jacks.

SunRisers Hyderabad have reportedly added Nitish Reddy and Travis Head in their list of retained players. The side thus has five retained players with Pat Cummins, Heinrich Klaasen and Abhishek Sharma being the rest three, stated Cricbuzz in a recent report.

Shreyas Iyer is not getting retained by Kolkata Knight Riders as the franchise was not happy with the salary the player demanded. As per a Cricbuzz report, Iyer was "seeking an exorbitant fee" for the retention and he could not find KKR on similar lines.

We are around 24 hours away from the October 31 deadline set for all the franchises to submit their list of retentions. The clock is ticking and so is the excitement regarding the picks and drops of all the ten franchises. Just stay connected to this space to get the retention rumours and news at the quickest.

Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill has decided to take a pay cut and will be the second player retained by the IPL franchise ahead of the October 31 deadline. Gill led Titans for the first time this season and both he and the management are now keen to retain the core group of players. The first retention for the franchise would be star spinner Rashid Khan, followed by Gill, Sai Sudharsan and two uncapped players in Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan.

Pacer Arshdeep Singh has been an integral part of Punjab Kings' setup since 2019. The left-arm pacer has delivered many match-winning spells for PBKS. However, the new retention policy has made it difficult for the franchise to retain Arshdeep. The first priority retention will be paid Rs 18 crore and PBKS are reportedly reluctant in spending such a heft amount for the pacer. However, with the power of Right To Match (RTM), PBKS will have another shot of roping Arshdeep back into the team. 

Punjab Kings had yet another poor outing in the last edition of the IPL. With skipper Shikhar Dhawan's retirement and appointment of new head coach Ricky Ponting, PBKS are likely to go for an another revamp in the upcoming auctions. This means, they are likely to release their entire squad ahead of the mega auctions, in order to rebuild a new team. 

According to the latest report of Cricbuzz, Kolkata Knight Riders are all set to release their skipper Shreyas Iyer, ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction.

With the reports of Virat Kohli leading the franchise in IPL 2025, many more shocking reports are also coming to light. It has also been reported that the Royal Challengers Bengaluru were after Shubman Gill for the role of their new captain. but he decided to remain with the Gujarat Titans.

According to a report by Times Of India, star batter Virat Kohli is all set to return to lead Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the upcoming edition of the IPL. Kohli left RCB's captaincy after IPL 2021 and since then, Faf du Plessis has led the team. As Faf has now turned 40, there are chances that he might not get retained by the franchise and Kohli will be stepping up for the role. 

Other than Rohit, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh believes captain Hardik Pandya, pacer Jasprit Bumrah, batter Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma will be retained by the Mumbai Indians to keep their core group intact before the mega auction.

In the IPL 2024, five-time champions Mumbai Indians finished at the bottom of the table under Hardik Pandya's captaincy. The removal of Rohit from the captain's position also drew a lot of flak from the fans. Rumors are going on that Mumbai Indians are likely to retain Rohit ahead of the mega auctions. 

Apart from Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Ayush Badoni and Mohsin Khan are reportedly the other retentions as LSG are expected to enter the IPL 2025 auction with a purse of Rs 69 crore.

While it has become apparent that Shreyas Iyer isn't a priority for the Kolkata Knight Riders, lack of quality Indian captains in the market could see the franchise retain him. Rumours suggest that the final decision hasn't been made yet, though talks between KKR and Shreyas are progressing.

Wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul led the three-edition old Lucknow Super Giants in 2022, 2023, and 2024. However, the reports are suggesting that the franchise is likely to part ways with Rahul. If reports are to believed, then West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran has been signed by LSG for Rs 18 crore. According to Cricbuzz, Pooran visited the Kolkata office of the RPSG group on Tuesday to meet team owner Sanjiv Goenka and complete the formalities of his retention. 

England wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler is one of the top players of Rajasthan Royals. Over the years, Buttler has played many match-winning knocks for the 2008 champions and proved his worth. However, as RR are keen to retain their Indian core, it is highly likely that Buttler will get released. If Buttler comes in the auction, he can start an intense bidding war among the franchises. 

The report claimed that Sanju Samson will be the first retention choice for Rajasthan Royals and the wicket-keeper batter is all set to lead the side once again. He enjoyed a brilliant run of form in IPL 2024 and considering his performances for India, he is expected to play a major role in IPL 2025. Jaiswal has also been a mainstay of the Rajasthan Royals batting line-up for quite some time and the report claimed that it is been seen as an "expected move" to retain him.

Rajasthan Royals already boasts of a strong Indian core and according to a report by India Today, they are expected to retain Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag ahead of the auction. The report also claimed that they plan to use the RTM card on Yuzvendra Chahal. 

Five-time champions Chennai Super Kings will be keen to retain their veteran wicketkeeper and former skipper MS Dhoni but other retentions will be interesting. If reports are to be believed, then CSK are likely to retain their all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja as the first choice, followed by captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, overseas stars Matheesha Pathirana and Devon Conway, and MS Dhoni as the uncapped player. 

"As of last Friday, the two parties hadn't spoken. There was lot of word going around on Shreyas Iyer and KKR but the two never sat across the table to have any discussion with regards to the plans for future or the IPL retentions. The first conversation happened on Sunday," said a source close to developments.

IPL 2024 winners Kolkata Knight Riders are also having a tough time while finalizing their retentions. Their entire team contributed like a single unit, which eventually helped them in lifting the trophy last year. However, Times of India has reported that KKR held talks with their skipper Shreyas Iyer over the future but it also claimed that the franchise is not considering the India batter as their top retention pick. 

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were led by Faf du Plessis in the last three seasons. However, the report by ESPNCricinfo has suggested that the franchise is unlikely to retain du Plessis ahead of the mega auctions. If their form skipper and star batter Virat Kohli does not return to lead the team, there are chances that RCB might look to rope in KL Rahul as their new captain. 

The retentions and mega auctions this year are creating a lot of buzz among the fans. The main reason is that the many big names will be going under the hammer. As all the formation and settings of the franchises will be shuffled, there are some reports which have suggested that star batter Virat Kohli is keen to return as the captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The right-handed batter stepped down from the role after IPL 2021. However, there's no official confirmation from the franchise on this. 

As per the order of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), all the ten franchises have to submit the final list of their retained and released players by the October 31. The announcement will be made after 4:30 PM on Thursday. 

The IPL franchises can retain a total of six players from their existing squad. This can be either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) option. The six retentions/RTMs can have a maximum of five capped players (Indian & Overseas) and a maximum of 2 uncapped players.

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the announcement of the retentions for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Stay tuned for all the live updates.