Nitish Rana has been an integral part of the Kolkata Knight Riders batting line-up since joining the IPL franchise seven years ago. The left-handed batter is considered to be one of the senior members in the KKR dressing room and he has provided quite a bit of solidity in the middle order in the past few years. However, the chances of KKR retaining him ahead of the IPL 2025 auction seem quite slim. With each team permitted to retain not more than six players, Rana finds himself in a tough situation. However, he has made a case for himself and reminded KKR that he has scored runs almost ever year.
"I have been serving KKR for the past seven years. It's not in my hands if I will be retained; it's up to KKR management to decide. I haven't received any calls yet. I have scored runs for KKR every year and if they consider me an asset, they will retain me," Rana said while speaking to Times Of India.
Meanwhile, India's latest pace sensation Mayank Yadav is set to walk into the IPL 'Million Dollar Club' after making his T20I debut against Bangladesh on Sunday, with Lucknow Super Giants needing a minimum of Rs 11 crore (USD 1.31 million) to retain his services for the next season.
Similarly, Sunrisers Hyderabad will also need to pay a minimum Rs 11 crore to avail all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy's services after his international debut in the same match.
As per IPL retention rules, any 'uncapped player', who makes his international debut in any of the three formats before the auctions will be elevated to 'capped player' category.
Hence, the retention prices for capped players is Rs 18 crore (No.1), Rs 14 crore (No.2) and Rs 11 crore (no.3). For retention numbers 4 and 5, the value would again shoot up to Rs 18 crore and Rs 14 crore, respectively.
While the deadline for announcing the retention list is October 31, it goes without saying that LSG will have Mayank as one of its three primary retentions.
While veteran KL Rahul, South African Quinton de Kock, West Indies dasher Nicholas Pooran and Australian Marcus Stoinis are the other heavyweight names in LSG's 2024 roster, there is no way that head coach Justin Langer and new mentor Zaheer Khan will let go of one of India's raw pace bowling diamonds.
While it is too early to predict the classification of retained players, but the 22-year-old Mayank is all set to laugh his way to the bank, even if he is the third retention.
"There is no way that LSG will put a rare bowler like Mayank back in auction pool. They have invested in him for past two seasons and he will certainly be one among the top three retentions," an IPL insider privy to the developments told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
(With PTI inputs)