IPL 2025 Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Predicted Retained Players
Shreyas Iyer to continue as the leader in our predicted retained players list for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for IPL 2025.
With only a few weeks left for teams to submit the official list of retained players for IPL 2025, the management of the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders must already be on top of their IPL 2025 Player Retention strategy. Given the retention dynamics, it would be very interesting to see how KKR go about retaining their players as they have many quality players in their side.
But having many players to retain is again a big headache if there’s a lack on the quality part. BCCI has designed the retention dynamics in such a way that there are hefty price deductions for each player that a team retains. For example, if a team retains one player, 18 Cr is blocked. For the second player, 14 Cr is blocked. Similarly, 11 Cr for third, then again 18 Cr for fourth, and 14 Cr for fifth capped player. However, for uncapped players, only 4 Cr will be deducted, and a team can retain a maximum of 2 uncapped players.
With these big changes, KKR can still go about retaining their maximum lot of 6 players including 1 uncapped player. But should they do it? Well, money will play a big role in defending champions, KKR’s strategy, who have built a solid core after winning the title after almost a decade. So, as we wait for the official list to get out, let’s in the meantime analyze the squad, and find out the best predicted retained players for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for IPL 2025.
KKR Retained Players List Decoded – IPL 2025
If we start with the first player that KKR will retain for 18 Cr, there are two big names that they will look at, and those are Shreyas Iyer and Andre Russell. Purely from a value perspective, a fit Andre Russell is undoubtedly worth 18 Cr. But Shreyas Iyer is also an accomplished player now, and is also the Captain of the side, who led them to their third title. So, whom does KKR retain for 18 Cr?
Well, the last time Shreyas Iyer got 14 Cr as a retention amount, and Andre Russell for 12 Cr. This time around, KKR may mostly go about retaining both, Andre Russell and Shreyas Iyer for the same 14 Cr amount, but the purse deduction for Shreyas shall be 18 Cr, and for Andre Russell shall be 14 Cr. Now, what salary a player gets is completely up to the team management, but the minimum deducted amount shall be the one designed by BCCI.
Talking about the third retention, KKR will again face a big headache in retaining one from Sunil Narine and Rinku Singh. It is honestly a tough choice as Rinku Singh is one of the best finishers in the game, and Sunil Narine was the MVP last time. The team can’t retain both as retaining both will lead to a purse deduction of 18 Cr for the fourth player. So, KKR should mostly retain Rinku Singh for 11 Cr, and then RTM Sunil Narine in the Auction cause the probability of Rinku going higher than Narine is higher in the Auction.
Harshit Rana vs Angkrish Raghuvanshi
Finally, for the uncapped player, KKR are on the brisk of losing Harshit Rana as the uncapped player. In all probability, Harshit may debut in the third T20I vs Bangladesh. So, in that case, KKR won’t be able to retain Harshit Rana as an uncapped player, and for the second best option, KKR will mostly go after Angkrish Raghuvanshi as the potential uncapped retention for 4 Cr. Other than these, KRK will look at using RTM cards on Sunil Narine, Phil Salt/Mitchell Starc, or even Venkatesh Iyer or Varun Chalravarthy.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Predicted Retained Players List for IPL 2025:
Shreyas Iyer (18 Cr), Andre Russell (14 Cr), Rinku Singh (11 Cr) & Angkrish Raghuvanshi (4 Cr)
