The wait lingers on as BCCI continues to delay the announcement of the retention rules ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. It was earlier reported that the rules would be announced on September 25. However, we might have to wait until BCCI’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) (scheduled for September 29) to get the final updates. Regardless, the IPL never sleeps, and neither does the rumour mill. In a couple of months, the loyalties among the franchises will be tested. Well-built teams will have tough tasks on their hands, such as who to retain and who to let go. Now with all the tittle-tattle going on, let us look at all the ten IPL franchises and their IPL 2025 retention rumours.
CSK IPL 2025: MS Dhoni to stay & bring Ashwin in?
Will MS Dhoni play IPL 2025 or will he not? Will CSK exploit the loophole to retain him for INR 4 crore or will strict retention policy force Dhoni to retire? All kinds of news have been surfacing ever since the culmination of IPL 2024. However, it is highly likely that Dhoni will play for another season. There were reports earlier that CSK will look to retain Dhoni even if there BCCI allows as less than as 2 retentions.
Apart from this, on Wednesday, the five-time IPL champions are also looking to add two Indian veterans to their bowling attack. According to Revsportz, CSK are keen on bringing in Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Shami at Anbuden.
MI IPL 2025: Rohit Sharma & Suryakumar Yadav gone, Shreyas Iyer in?
A franchise that will have a tough time choosing their retention picks, Mumbai Indians haven’t been the same since the last mega auction (2022). While they don’t need to hit the refresh button, MI will have a challenging time managing all the T20 greats that they have. The Rohit Sharma saga will take a massive turn. After getting stripped of his captaincy, will Rohit Sharma leave MI and join another franchise? Well, franchises like DC and LSG can keep ’50 crore’ of their purse ready for the Hitman.
Apart from this, there were huge IPL 2025 rumours, stating a swap between MI and KKR over Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer. After guiding KKR to their third IPL title, will Iyer join his local team in Mumbai?
RCB IPL 2025: ‘Angry’ Rishabh Pant & KL Rahul to return?
On Thursday, Rishabh Pant hit back at an X user for spreading misinformation and false rumours. The user stated that the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) wanted Rishabh Pant but Virat Kohli denied Pant’s entry. To this, Pant lambasted the fan and said not to believe anything.
Apart from this, the rumour of KL Rahul coming back to RCB has been going around for over a month. After an alleged fallout with LSG, Rahul might have to switch his franchise once again. He was even part of a video where a fan asked him to come to RCB. RCB are also rumoured to release their INR 14.25 crore buy Glenn Maxwell. Maxwell had a sorry IPL 2024 and might be released by the franchise.
KKR IPL 2025: SKY in, Venkatesh Iyer out
The reigning IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will also have some tough decisions to make. Apart from the usual names like Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, youngsters also did superbly. Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi and the two Iyers are enticing options. However, as per many rumours, KKR might not look to retain Venkatesh Iyer. Venky joined KKR in IPL 2021 when he was picked in the auction for his base price of INR 20 lakh. He had a stellar season for the franchise, where he scored 370 runs in 10 matches, and was the guiding force behind them reaching the final of the season.
As mentioned above, there were even rumours of a swap between Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav between MI and KKR. While these may be baseless, several publications went on to say that SKY may return to his previous franchise, KKR. Apart from this, KKR have signed up Dwayne Bravo as a mentor ahead of IPL 2025.
RR IPL 2025: Bye-bye Ashwin & Hetmyer?
Rajasthan Royals (RR) would be one of those teams who won’t like the concept of mega auction right now. They have a well-settled unit and the mega auction won’t be doing anything good for them. Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Yuzvendra Chahal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shimron Hetmyer and Trent Boult – RR are definitely going to lose a big player. However, if rumours are to be believed, they will let go Ashwin and Hetmyer.
The return of Ashwin to CSK looks likely, while Hetmyer might be low in the pecking order for RR. However, it remains to be seen on who the newly appointed head coach Rahul Dravid chooses to keep!
SRH IPL 2025: Umran Malik & Bhuvneshwar to leave!
When SRH co-owner Kavya Maran argued about having 7-8 retentions in an all-owners meeting on July 31, it indicated Sunrisers Hyderabad’s fear of losing some star assets. They have the likes of Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen and T Natarajan. However, if IPL 2025 are anything to go by, it looks like the Orange Army is looking to let go of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umran Malik. After coming up the ranks, due to his stellar pace, Malik has lacked game time.
DC IPL 2025: Question mark on Rishabh Pant & David Warner
Delhi Capitals (DC) have already lost coach Ricky Ponting. However, will they also see the back of Rishabh Pant and David Warner? Almost a month ago, there were huge rumours of CSK wanting Pant. With Dhoni’s future in the IPL not destined for long, CSK will surely be looking for a long-term wicket-keeping option. The star wicketkeeper, who has been with with DC for years, might be on his way out according to some buzz. Reports emerged that the Delhi franchise isn’t exactly thrilled with Pant’s captaincy in IPL 2024, and his place in the squad for next year is up in the air.
Apart from this, one thing that looks slightly more likely is the release of David Warner. There have been reports for PBKS wanting Warner. With Shikhar Dhawan announcing his retirement, PBKS want a match-winning opener. And this is where the Kings could eye the Australian southpaw and make Warner re-join Ponting.
PBKS IPL 2025: Rohit to replace Dhawan?
Rohit Sharma was allegedly unhappy at Mumbai Indians after his removal as captain. The franchise finished with the wooden spoon this year and it would be interesting if MI would take a punt on Rohit once again (especially when there would be only a handful of retention options). This is where PBKS comes in, who might be looking in for Rohit. They could easily give him the captaincy as well and Rohit is also an ideal replacement for Dhawan at PBKS. PBKS’ former DOC Sanjay Bangar also touched upon the topic. However, PBKS have sacked both Bangar and Trevor Bayliss.
GT IPL 2025: Ashish Nehra yes or no?
Gujarat Titans are set to undergo an ownership change post-IPL 2025. Initially, huge rumours were circulating that Ashish Nehra may leave his head coach position soon alongside Director of Cricket Vikram Solanki. However, this rumour was busted on Thursday, when we told you that the entire GT coaching staff is going nowhere. It is only Gary Kirsten’s role, who is currently Pakistan’s white-ball head coach, that is up for grabs. As among the players, Mohammed Shami is reportedly getting huge attraction by CSK.
LSG IPL 2025: KL Rahul almost certain to go!
Word on the street is that KL Rahul might be saying goodbye to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). As we mentioned above, he may rejoin RCB. However, if not, his future with LSG looks all but over. The franchise have not posted anything about Rahul for months and his ties might have fallen out, especially after an animated chat with owner Sanjiv Goenka.
