IPL Release Players: IPL’s big Diwali release Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul & Rishabh Pant | Cricket News

L-R: Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant

Three Indian superstars head to the auction after not being retained; Klaasen is most expensive retention at Rs 23 crore; MI’s core of Hardik, SKY, Rohit, Bumrah intact
MUMBAI: As the 10 IPL franchises prepare to gather in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the mega auction on Nov 24 and 25, they now could bid on three Indian players with potential leadership qualities. Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer joined KL Rahul in the auction pool when franchises announced their retentions on Diwali.
Pant ended his nine-year association with the Delhi Capitals, while the Kolkata Knight Riders released their title-winning captain Iyer. With multiple teams like DC, Punjab Kings, RCB, and LSG eyeing Iyer, KKR were unable to convince Iyer to stay.KKR retain Russell, Narine
The 2024 IPL champions retained veteran West Indian allrounders Andre Russell and Sunil Narine (Rs 12cr), along with Rinku Singh (Rs 13cr), Varun Chakravarthy (Rs 12cr), and the uncapped players Ramandeep Singh (Rs 4cr) and pacer Harshit Rana (Rs 4cr).
Pandya stays MI captain
Another big announcement from the retentions was the Mumbai Indians’ decision to retain Hardik Pandya as captain for IPL 2025, despite finishing at the bottom in 2024. MI retained their core Indian players: Jasprit Bumrah (Rs 18cr), Suryakumar Yadav (16.35cr), Hardik Pandya (16.35cr) and Rohit Sharma (16.30cr)

Axar, Kuldeep stay at DC
DC retained Axar Patel (Rs 16.50cr), Kuldeep Yadav (13.25cr), South African batter Tristan Stubbs (Rs 10cr), and uncapped Abishek Porel (Rs 4cr). If they don’t get Shreyas Iyer in the auction, Axar may lead them.
LSG owner takes a dig at KL Rahul
In a subtle criticism of former captain KL Rahul, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka, in a video on Star Sports, stated, “We aimed to retain players who put the team first over personal aspirations.” LSG retained Nicholas Pooran (Rs 21cr) as their top pick.

CSK retain five players
CSK retained MS Dhoni (Rs 4cr), who confirmed he is enjoying cricket and wants to play another IPL season, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad (Rs 18cr), Ravindra Jadeja (Rs 18cr), Shivam Dube (Rs 12cr), and Sri Lanka’s Matheesha Pathirana (Rs 13cr).
SRH shell out Rs 23cr for Klaasen
IPL 2024 finalists SRH broke the bank to retain Heinrich Klaasen, offering Rs 23cr to hold onto the South African big hitter. They also retained captain Pat Cummins (Rs 18cr), Abhishek Sharma (Rs 14cr), Travis Head (Rs 14cr), and Nitish Reddy (Rs 6cr).

No Buttler for RR
Rajasthan Royals chose not to retain England’s white-ball captain Jos Buttler. They opted to retain Sanju Samson (Rs 18cr), Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rs 18cr), Riyan Parag (Rs 14cr), Dhruv Jurel (Rs 14cr), Shimron Hetmyer (Rs 11cr), and Sandeep Sharma (Rs 4cr). Alongside Buttler, RR released Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Ravichandran Ashwin.

Gill takes a ‘pay cut’ for Rashid
At Gujarat Titans, Shubman Gill took a pay cut, accepting Rs 16.5cr, while Rashid Khan became their premium retention at Rs 18cr. RCB retained Kohli for Rs 21cr. As expected, Royal Challengers Bengaluru did not retain their captain of the past three seasons, Faf du Plessis and they also released India pacer Mohammed Siraj. They retained Virat Kohli for Rs 21cr.
PBKS let-go Arshdeep Singh
Punjab Kings will enter the auction with a substantial purse of Rs 110.5cr. Deciding that Arshdeep Singh was too costly to retain, they stuck to two uncapped players: Shashank Singh (5.5cr), who essayed heists last season and Prabhsimran Singh (Rs 4cr).