IPL 2025: 3 captains who were not first retentions of their franchises

Hardik Pandya will continue as captain of Mumbai Indians for IPL 2025.

All 10 Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises finalized and submitted their retention lists on October 31st ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. The focus will now shift to the mega auction which will take place later this year.

With the largest auction purses, Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are set to make big moves, holding INR 110.5 crores and INR 83 crores respectively. But before diving into the auction action, let’s look at an interesting trend that emerged from the IPL 2025 retention choices.

Out of the 10 IPL franchises, five franchises opted to retain their captains, but interestingly three of them are not slotted in the first retention bracket. These three skippers agreed to be the second retention, allowing another important player of their team to be the franchise’s most expensive retention.

In this article, we will look at the three franchises that have stuck with their captains but not as first-choice retentions.

Three captains who were not first retentions of their franchises

1. Hardik Pandya (MI)

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians have decided to go to the IPL 2025 mega auction with five retentions. MI’s five retained players are Jasprit Bumrah (INR 18 crores), Surya Kumar Yadav (INR 16.35 crores), Hardik Pandya (16.35 crores), Rohit Sharma (INR 16.3 crores) and Tilak Varma (INR 8 crores).

MI have retained star Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah as their first choice player and captain Hardik Pandya has been retained as the second choice player. It was learned that Pandya, Rohit and Suryakumar unanimously agreed that Bumrah deserved the top retention.

MI had a horrible IPL 2024 campaign, where they finished last in the points table. It was a season to forget for Hardik as well. Both Pandya and MI will look to bounce back in IPl 2025.

2. Shubman Gill (GT)

The IPL 2022 champions, Gujarat Titans, will go to the IPL 2025 mega auction with a purse of INR 69 crores. The Gujarat-based franchise maintained their core with five retentions: Rashid Khan (INR 18 crores), Shubman Gill (INR 16.5 crores), Sai Sudharsan (INR 8.5 crores), Rahul Tewatia (INR 4 crores) and Shahrukh Khan (INR 4 crores).

Gujarat have retained Rashid as their first choice retention, while captain Gill has been retained as second choice.

After two excellent seasons, Gujarat had an underwhelming 2024 campaign. The team finished eighth in the points table, with only six wins out of 14 league games.

3. Pat Cummins (SRH)

The IPL 2024 runners-up, Sunrisers Hyderabad, will enter the IPL 2025 mega auction with a purse of INR 45 crores. The “Orange Army” have retained five players from their record-breaking campaign: Heinrich Klassen (INR 23 crores), Pat Cummins (INR 18 crores), Abhishek Sharma (INR 14 crores), Travis Head (INR 14 crores) and Nitish Reddy (INR 6 crores)

The Hyderabad-based franchise has retained Klassen as their first choice retention while the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023-winning captain Pat Cummins has been retained at the second slot.

SRH had a wonderful IPL 2024 campaign with the team finishing second in the points table and coming short only in the final. It was SRH’s first appearance in an IPL final since 2018.

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