Highest-paid cricketers after IPL 2025 player retentions

Heinrich Klaasen and Virat Kohli among the top earning players

Sunrisers Hyderabad's Heinrich Klaasen is currently the highest paid cricketr in IPL. AFP

The Indian Premier League began preparations for the 2025 season by undertaking its annual talent parade, better known as the player auction.

The player auction this time was very significant because of the number of players back in pool. So much so that the news cycle around the retentions of each franchise ahead of the October 31 deadline outpaced that of international cricket at many instances.

The main player auction will take place by the end of November, most probably at a location in the Middle East where the riches of Indian cricket will be on full display.

On Thursday, all 10 franchises submitted their list of retained players, which automatically deducted a predetermined amount from their total salary budget.

There were a string of surprises, none more so than this season’s winning captain Shreyas Iyer being released by Kolkata Knight Riders and Rishabh Pant leaving Delhi Capitals.

The mess created in Mumbai Indians following the unceremonious removal of Rohit Sharma as captain has been largely cleared with all main players retained, namely Rohit, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav.

And yes, MS Dhoni will play another season for Chennai Super Kings. That was never in doubt because he is the undisputed king of the league – IPL brought in a rule just so that Chennai could retain Dhoni without damaging their budget; by redefining what an uncapped player is, extending to those who have not played international cricket for five years.

At Gujarat Titans, Shubman Gill agreed to take a pay cut so that the team could retain a majority of its core players. Sunrisers Hyderabad managed to retain devastating players like Heinrich Klaasen and Travis Head who almost won them the title earlier this year.

Rajasthan Royals also have a great pool of local players they helped develop and have kept them home.

Lucknow Super Giants paid dollar to retain the irreplaceable Nicholas Pooran, which meant letting go of captain KL Rahul – no surprise there at all.

And lastly, Punjab Kings. They never seem to have any coherence in their team, management or performance. They kept two uncapped players and let go of everyone else, including T20 World Cup hero Arshdeep Singh.

Each team was allowed to retain up to six players, with at most five capped or two uncapped cricketers. Each team got a salary purse of 1200 million rupees. For every retention, a pre-determined amount was deducted from the purse.

Top 20 highest-paid cricketers after IPL 2025 retentions

1. Heinrich Klaasen – 230 million rupees ($2.7m), Sunrisers Hyderabad

2. Virat Kohli – 210m rupees ($2.5m), Royal Challengers Bangalore

=2. Nicholas Pooran – 210m rupees ($2.5m), Lucknow Super Giants

=4. Ruturaj Gaikwad – 180m rupees ($2.1m), Chennai Super Kings

=4. Ravindra Jadeja – 180m rupees ($2.1m), Chennai Super Kings

=4. Pat Cummins – 180m rupees ($2.1m), Sunrisers Hyderabad

=4. Sanju Samson – 180m rupees ($2.1m), Rajasthan Royals

=4. Yashasvi Jaiswal – 180m rupees ($2.1m), Rajasthan Royals

=4. Rashid Khan – 180m rupees ($2.1m), Gujarat Titans

=4. Jasprit Bumrah – 180m rupees ($2.1m), Mumbai Indians

11. Shubman Gill – 165m rupees ($1.96m), Gujarat Titans

=11. Axar Patel – 165m rupees ($1.96m), Delhi Capitals

13. Hardik Pandya – 163.5m rupees ($1.94m), Mumbai Indians

=13. Suryakumar Yadav – 163.5m rupees ($1.94m), Mumbai Indians

15. Rohit Sharma – 163m rupees ($1.93m), Mumbai Indians

16. Abhishek Sharma – 140m rupees ($1.6m), Sunrisers Hyderabad

=16. Travis Head – 140m rupees ($1.6m), Sunrisers Hyderabad

=16. Riyan Parag – 140m rupees ($1.6m), Rajasthan Royals

=16. Dhruv Jurel – 140m rupees ($1.6m), Rajasthan Royals

20. Kuldeep Yadav – 132.5m rupees ($1.57m), Delhi Capitals

Complete list of retained players for IPL 2025

Most teams have spent a substantial amount from their salary budget, which means only a few players will attract very high bids during the player auction later this month.

Punjab Kings have almost their entire salary fund to play with, having retained just two uncapped players. At the other end of the table, Rajasthan Royals have the least amount of funds remaining as they have retained more than half of their playing XI.

Remaining purse