3 players KKR must retain ahead of IPL 2025 auction ft. Rinku Singh

Almost like the fantasy leagues, the IPL has thrown new rules out for team owners and players ahead of the 2025 auction to keep things interesting and spicy. All rules point broadly to one thing: the franchises should shuffle up and play with different players.

The reported price slabs for the six allowed retentions suggest that the first and fourth would cost the same amount - a whopping ₹18 crore. This would push teams to hold onto three players and de-incentivize and make them think twice before retaining a fourth player.

So, irrespective of how many players each team ultimately ends up retaining, or using RTMs, one of the first things they'd consider is - "Which three players should be our priorities?"

Below, we discuss just that for 2024 champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

#3 Andre Russell

Deeciding on Andre Russell and Sunil Narine's futures would be a big part of head coach Chandrakant Pandit and new mentor DJ Bravo's pre-season PowerPoint presentations. Both 37-year-olds are the loyal face of the franchise - out of their prime but still had exceptional seasons in 2024.

Their performances after the IPL season have gone down but their experience is still invaluable which is also why the team has stuck with them all these years. But with new rules tying hands and a big Indian core to look after, KKR might have to finally pick a side.

Russell, in that regard, seems like the better option. He's fitter, perhaps the fittest he has been since his late 20s, and bowled as well as ever in 2024, taking joint-fourth-highest 19 wickets at an average of 15.52.

He wasn't required much with the bat in the winning campaign but the few flashes were promising as his technique looked much more fluid than before. KKR would know that pace all-rounders are a much rarer commodity than spin all-rounders in IPL auctions.

Few teams except KKR would risk big money on Narine, despite his obvious quality with the ball and game-changing abilities as an opener. Several other sides have already tried the opening experiment with him but to no avail.

KKR would believe that they can get Narine back directly in the auction or even with the RTM, whereas Russell would almost certainly go above ₹15 crore in the auction, making him much more difficult to attain once released.

#2 Shreyas Iyer

Now, there's one thing we need to accept right away - Shreyas Iyer in T20s isn't nearly as good a batter as he's in ODIs and perhaps even in Tests. He can play across the batting order and hit the big shots against all types of bowlers, but usually struggles for consistency throughout a season (his IPL strike rate is just 127.48).

But his value at KKR was never about his batting. KKR have faced captaincy issues since Gautam Gambhir's appointment with Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik's tenures full of awkwardness and hushed controversies at the end.

Shreyas' singing provided stability to the team because his confidence and demeanor garnered respect easily. He gave freedom to the youngsters and almost always got the basic tactics right on the field, which helped him stand out.

In 2024, with MS Dhoni stepping down, Shreyas became the most experienced IPL captain in the 10 teams. Now with a trophy to his name, his value would have skyrocketed beyond the constraints of his batting and every other team would love to get him onboard.

By retaining him, KKR would keep the franchise as stable as possible and the winning relationship between the team and its owners intact. If they release him, they'd never know how much a new captain would cost and how long would he take to settle, or if he'd settle at all.

#1 Rinku Singh

It's hard to fathom that Rinku Singh's stocks have gone down in 2024 after the kind of 2023 he had across formats. Due to sheer bad luck, he just hasn't played enough games. KKR's batting proficiency and some bad decisions didn't let him bat and then India didn't pick him for the 2024 T20 World Cup.

But KKR being a team that backed him when no one else did, through injuries and bad form, would know how big an asset he is. He's still one of the best white-ball finishers in the world and perhaps the best in India since Dhoni.

His combination with Russell and Ramandeep Singh in the lower order made KKR one of the most daunting batting line-ups to bowl to. Retaining two of them is key for KKR to maintain that differential strength that no other side can boast of.

Rinku is still just 26, loves the franchise, is an important member of the dressing room, a massive brand already, and is good enough to be slowly included in the leadership group. KKR would not want to lose him at any cost.