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All ten IPL franchises have officially submitted their retention lists before the mega auction. Most franchises retained their core group of players, while a few are hoping to rebuild their squads from scratch. Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) surprisingly let go of their captain, Shreyas Iyer. They offered the top retention slot to star batter Rinku Singh at 13 Crore, who received only 55 lakhs during the previous cycle.
IPL 2024 runner-ups, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) broke the bank for the explosive wicket-keeper batter Heinrich Klaasen, signing him for 23 Crores, the highest-ever retention price. Pat Cummins, Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, and Nitish Kumar Reddy will continue to don the orange jersey after signing new deals. Legendary Indian cricketers MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli were retained by their respective IPL franchises and will continue to entertain their ardent franchise fans during the summer.
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Top international players like Shreyas Iyer, Jos Buttler, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Glenn Maxwell will go under the hammer during the IPL 2025 mega auction.
Fans noted the retention lists of all the IPL franchises and took to social media platforms to express their reactions by sharing hilarious memes. Here are some of the best ones:
"Players representing the national team at the highest level should get the preference"- Rohit Sharma on being 4th retention for MI ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction
In a video uploaded by Mumbai Indians on their X handle, Rohit Sharma (16.3 CR) opened up about the reason for volunteering for the fourth retention spot behind Jasprit Bumrah (18 CR), Suryakumar Yadav (16.35 CR) and Hardik Pandya (16.35 CR). He felt that the active international players should get the preference and did not mind taking a backseat since he has retired from T20Is. On the matter, Rohit said:
"You know, since I have retired from this format, I think this is the perfect (retention) spot for me. You know, the players, who are representing the national team at the highest level, should get the preference. That's what I believe in, and I'm quite happy with it. I'm thrilled to be part of Mumbai Indians yet again. I played so much cricket here. "
He added:
"This is the place where I have started my cricket career. So this city is very, very special, and I'm happy to be here. And obviously when you play for such a long period, you create so much memories with the team. We haven't had the best season in the last 2 or 3 years, but we are quite determined to change that. So yes! We will be looking forward to each other's help, and hopefully, we can turn things around."
Do you think all the teams made the right choices ahead of the mega auction? Let us know your views in the comments section.
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