Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have used all six available retention spots as the three-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions, who will enter the 2025 edition as the title-holders, announced their list of retained players on Thursday.
Focusing on all-round options, KKR have decided to retain West Indians Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, besides India's Rinku Singh and Varun Chakravarthy as the four capped players.
The 2024 winners have also made full utilisation of the permitted number of uncapped retentions by keeping Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh on the roster.
They have let go of skipper Shreyas Iyer and their big purchase of the last season, Australian pacer Mitchell Starc.
Here's what KKR spent to retain the above-mentioned six players:
Retention 1: Rinku Singh for INR 13 Crore
Retention 2: Varun Chakaravarthy for INR 12 Crore
Retention 3: Sunil Narine for INR 12 Crore
Retention 4: Andre Russell for INR 12 Crore
Retention 5 (Uncapped): Harshit Rana for INR 4 Crore
Retention 6 (Uncapped): Ramandeep Singh for INR 4 Crore
The sum of the above, INR 57 Crore, will be deducted from the total auction purse of INR 120 crore for IPL 2025.
According to the Player Regulations released by the IPL Governing Council earlier, the franchises were allowed to retain a total of six players from their existing squad (a maximum of five capped players and a maximum of two uncapped players) either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) option during the auction.
