The Indian Premier League (IPL), organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), stands as one of the world’s most popular T20 cricket leagues. The list of retentions for the 2025 season of IPL is out and many players received a huge amount of money in their contract.
Many franchises have picked some unexpected players, and the most expected ones are left in the auction pool for the 2025 mega auction. Players like Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Yuzi Chahal, Shreyas Iyer, and many more would be battling it out under the hammer to earn themselves a contract for the IPL.
Although many players were not retained, huge sums were spent on some of the world’s most renowned players.
Top three most expensive retained players in 2025 IPL
1- Heinrich Klassen
The aggressive South African batter has received the most amount of money for his retention, which is 23 Crore. The batter proved everyone his worth by playing various crucial knocks for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024 and South Africa in 2024 T20 World Cup.
The batter is expected to be in his red hot form, once again for the franchise. This time the orange army would be aiming for the title, after retaining their overseas and uncapped core.
2- Virat Kohli
Indian batting legend Virat Kohli has been retained by Royal Challengers Bangalore for a whopping amount of 21 Crore. The batter has been a part of the Bengaluru franchise, since the inception of the league in 2008. Virat has been an important asset for the team and contributed decently in every season.
As per the reports, Virat Kohli is also set to captain the franchise, yet once again after leaving it three years ago. The batter is motivated to lead the side and wants to win the first title for the franchise under his captaincy.
3– Nicholas Pooran
West Indian wicketkeeper, Nicholas Pooran has been retained by Lucknow Super Giants in place of KL Rahul, for an amount of 21 Crore. The Lucknow franchise would be looking to make Pooran as their captain, after retaining them on the top spot.
Pooran would be looking forward to power the Super Giants to their first ever title, with his explosive batting and wicketkeeping.
