The current IPL champions and one of the most successful IPL teams, KKR, will need to think a lot about which five players they will retain first since the rules for the IPL mega auction have been announced. The 5+1 policy will allow franchises to retain five players initially, and they can later use the Right to Match option at the IPL mega auction.
The list of retained players must be submitted by camp before October 31. Now which means the countdown has begun for some mega news. Looking at KKR, as mentioned, they need to think carefully, and the primary reason is that there are many solid players who did a wonderful job last season. Now it’s time for the big auction, where a few players can get scattered and may not be part of the same team in the upcoming IPL. But who are those who will definitely be on the retention list? See a list of five names that KKR will strongly go for and retain first.
Players KKR should retain ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction
| Player Name | Attributes |
| Sunil Narine | All-rounder |
| Shreyas Iyer | Batter |
| Rinku Singh | Batter |
| Andre Russell | All-rounder |
| Ramandeep Singh | Batter |
Sunil Narine
You can’t afford to lose a three-time MVP award winner. And surely one of the most consistent performers in T20 format. Sunil Narine has been a favorite of the KKR franchise for the past 12 years. He has continually served the team and is again a strong candidate for retention among all the names coming up. Narine is going to be at the top of the list. Speaking about his stats so far, Narine has played 176 matches, scoring 1,534 runs at a massive strike rate of 165.84. With a bowling economy of 6.73, he stands fifth on the all-time IPL bowling list with 180 wickets.
Shreyas Iyer
There were a few rumors in the past that Iyer may not get retained. But now there is a strong possibility that KKR will retain Shreyas Iyer, as he is one of the important players on the team. With 115 games and over 3,000 runs, he plays a crucial role as skipper and is currently a key batter as well. Not to forget, he led KKR to an IPL trophy last season after 10 years. And will surely be one of the players to get retained.
Andre Russell
If we observe closely, both the Caribbean all-rounders, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, have done a wonderful job for this KKR camp. Looking at Russell deeper, who has been a valuable and extremely important asset, we saw how in the last IPL he played some magical innings. His ability to change the game from anywhere makes this star player a superstar. If KKR wants to continue its dominance and lead the team to one more IPL silverware, they need Russell, as he provides stability in the middle order. With the ball, he can give you precious four overs where, if not taking wickets, his run-controlling abilities are huge.
