Evolution of IPL Retentions: A Dynamic Equation

Kolkata: The decision of Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru to undergo a major overhaul ahead of the mega auction, 16 years into the IPL, comes as a mix of anticipated and surprising.

Expected because despite all the franchises starting from scratch in 2008, these two teams in particular have never been able to look beyond either star power or the disconcerting desire to pack their sides with power hitters without considering the overall balance. Unexpected because 16 years is too long a time to not address this festering problem.

And then there are Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals—all champions, and all expectedly maintaining a vein of continuity by dint of their long-term planning. Which is why it isn’t surprising that these four franchises’ Indian retentions make up the bulk of India’s current and future T20 international pool.

Key to this retention success is the clarity of communication between players and management that caters to an overall will to strike a balance in the core while keeping the franchises’ long-term interest ahead of individuals.

A major talking point that has cropped up in the backdrop of this philosophy is how some top Indian players have agreed to take pay cuts as second retentions.

Among the captains, Hardik Pandya will get paid ₹16.35 crore, less than Jasprit Bumrah’s ₹18 crore. At Gujarat Titans, Rashid Khan is the highest retention with ₹18 crore while Shubman Gill settled for ₹16.50 crore. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson are the only two Indian captains to get the top retention amount of ₹18 crore but their respective franchises have matched that amount for Ravindra Jadeja and Yashasvi Jaiswal only because MS Dhoni and Sandeep Sharma agreed to the uncapped player fee of ₹4 crore because of the new rule of players who have not played international cricket for five years being classified as uncapped.

Even Mumbai Indians have managed to spread out their next three retaining prices after Bumrah in such a way—Pandya and Surya Kumar Yadav get ₹16.35 crore each while Rohit Sharma gets only ₹5 lakh less than them—that there can be no chance of dissatisfaction or controversy. That, of course, may be beefed up with other perks but it points to an encouraging phase of IPL economics where some franchises are not only heeding the opinion of senior players but also letting them take the lead in deciding the retention amounts.

Mumbai’s was a particularly awkward situation given the heat Pandya had to take in the aftermath of him taking over from Sharma and their subsequent forgettable campaign this year but head coach Mahela Jayawardene said there was nothing that couldn’t be solved through honest conversations.

“I know Hardik’s being appointed captain. We had that conversation with them,” he said. “And obviously, Ro (Rohit) led the retention part and everyone agreed that Boom (Bumrah), you know, being the best bowler in the world, and he’s been very consistent. And we need to recognise that at the top. And then he wanted the other young Indians to be recognised and it was his call.”

Another sign of the changing landscapes is how franchises have not panicked over letting go of their Indian captains partly because they have the assurance of the Right-To-Match cards during auction but mostly because they are not willing to scupper their core balance in the quest to persuade the captain to stay back.

Current champions KKR are a perfect example, striking a perfect balance with the core by retaining Rinku Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh. Translate that to the skills column and KKR already have two specialist batters in Rinku and Ramandeep, two specialist bowlers in Chakaravarthy and Rana and two revered allrounders in Narine and Russell. All of them for just ₹69 crore, meaning KKR have enough and more money to not only fill the other slots but also get an Indian captain if they are smart about their auction strategy.

Did they want to retain Shreyas Iyer? Most likely. But KKR CEO Venky Mysore indicated that the franchise was not willing to be stretched to accommodate him.

“In almost all cases, everyone asks if there is a way we can retain them, but they also understand why sometimes we can’t. So hopefully, somewhere our paths will cross again,” said Mysore in a KKR video bite. “But also, something to be kept in mind is that retention is not a one-way street. It is always something that has to be mutually agreed upon.”

The open channels of communication have also allowed franchises to persuade younger players with higher retention amounts. Narine and Russell agreeing to amounts less than the IPL mandated caps meant Rinku’s salary jumped from ₹55 lakh to ₹13 crore and still it was five less than the highest cap is ₹18 crore. Similarly, Dhruv Jurel’s price skyrocketed from ₹20 lakh in 2024 to ₹14 crore, Mayank Yadav from ₹20 lakh to 11 crore and Sai Sudharshan from ₹20 lakh to ₹8.5 crore.

These are encouraging trends, suggesting more and more franchises are open to investing in the future rather than go with major, short-term investments. That however doesn’t mean that icons have lost their pull.

Kohli is synonymous with RCB so the franchise splurging ₹21 crore on him makes sense even though letting go of Mohammed Siraj seems questionable. Similarly, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Iyer heading back to the auction pool are justifiable if they are unhappy with their price tag, the administration or just want a fresh start. Their availability is exactly the kind of catalyst that can drum up pre-auction conjecture and keep things exciting.