IPL 2025 Retention: RCB to Retain Only Virat Kohli With an Aim to Buy Karnataka Players at Auction?

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) is reportedly set to retain only star batter Virat Kohli as the franchise aims to buy some local players at the IPL 2025 Mega Auction after Karnataka government’s pressure.

As the October 31st deadline for retained players to be submitted by the franchises approaches, rumours of player retentions has picked up pace with many surprises.

According to a report in TOI, the Bengaluru-based side will surely retain Kohli and are undecided on their other five slots. This will mean the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Glenn Maxwell, who were retained in 2022, will be released into the auction.

Kohli, who has been part of RCB since the inception of the IPL in 2008, was retained alongside Siraj and Maxwell ahead of the last IPL Mega Auction in 2022. But the latter two are unlikely to be retained ahead of the next big auction.

While Indian pacer Siraj was retained for Rs 7 Crore, the Australian all-rounder Maxwell cost RCB Rs 11 Crore for his retention. Although the two players would have been immediate retention picks, the price slabs, may have put off RCB in retaining them.

The same will be the case for skipper Faf Du Plessis, who RCB bought in the 2022 Mega Auction. There are several other overseas names that could tempt RCB of retaining like Cameron Green and Will Jacks.

However, the recent report suggests, the franchise may opt to release and try to buy back several players at the IPL 2025 Mega Auction, which is likely to be held in the last week of November.

The franchises are allowed a total of 6 retentions, which could be a maximum of 5 capped players, and maximum of 2 uncapped players. Retention of 5 capped players will cost the team a total of Rs 75 Crore, leaving the team with just Rs 45 Crore to spend at the auction.

Should the team opt to retain their sixth player (uncapped) it would see a further deduction of Rs 4 Crore, leaving the team with just Rs 41 Crore to spend at the auction. So, this may have made RCB restrategize their auction plans like several other teams.

If RCB retain only Kohli, they would go into the auction with a remaining purse of at least close to Rs 100 Crore. While the report suggests RCB may let go some of their big name players, there is a chance the franchise may look at their uncapped options.

Pacer Yash Dayal, whom RCB bought for Rs 5 Crore in the IPL 2024 auction, could be a tempting choice at Rs 4 Crore. But the other options could be bought at a little lower price at the auction.

The report also added that the Karnataka government has put considerable pressure on the franchise to go for local players in the 2025-27 cycle. The only Karnataka players in the RCB squad last season were Vyshak Vijaykumar and Manoj Bhandage.

Vyshak and Bhandage could both be bought back in the auction alongside some established names from the state like KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal and Prasidh Krishna. It will all depend on their current team’s retention plans and the price at what they go.