The stage is set for the defending champions to retain their core players for the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025). KKR has picked Sunil Narine as their number one pick for a price of 18 crores. On the other hand, captain Shreyas Iyer will go under the hammer. Ace all-rounder Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, and Varun Chakravarthy are the other players to be retained by the 3-time IPL champions.
Kolkata Knight Riders couldn’t agree on a deal with star captain Shreyas Iyer who apparently demanded an exorbitant price. On the other hand, Mitchell Strac who was bought for the highest price ever, 24.75 crores has also been released. Harshit Rana has also been retained by the side for a price of 4 crores as the uncapped pick.
KKR Retained players for IPL 2025
Retention No. 1 (Rs 13 crore) – Rinku Singh
Retention No. 2 (Rs 12 crore) – Varun Chakravarthy
Retention No. 3 (Rs 12 crore) – Sunil Narine
Retention No. 4 (Rs 12 crore) – Andre Russell
Retention No. 5 (Rs 4 crore) (uncapped) – Harshit Rana
Retention No. 6 (Rs 4 crore) (uncapped) – Ramandeep Singh
New Strategy for KKR in IPL 2025 Mega Auction
As disclosed by InsideSport previously, KKR will now opt for a different strategy in the IPL 2025 Mega Auction. The team won’t be going to send huge chunks of money on overseas stars. Instead, the defending champions will be targeting Indian players with specialized roles for the upcoming season.
With 6 players retained, Kolkata Knight Riders don’t have any RTM options left. But then the team can easily outbid others and rebuy a former player if they want to. KKR has gone on to spend 69 crores, meaning they have a purse left of 51 crores in the mega auction.
