The release of Andre Russell and Venkatesh Iyer from the Kolkata Knight Riders’ IPL 2025 roster was the most notable move made by the team prior to the IPL mini-auction.
Andre Russell departure ends the West Indian all-rounder’s lengthy and significant tenure, and Iyer was their most costly (INR 23.75 Cr) selection at the Jeddah mega auction last year.
Due to the departures of Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Moeen Ali, and Spencer Johnson, KKR was able to free up both purse and overseas slots. After Mayank Markande was traded to the Mumbai Indians and Chetan Sakariya and Luvnith Sisodia were also freed, the three-time champions now have 13 spots (six of which are abroad) to fill at the auction and a substantial prize of INR 64.3 crore.
With a busy trade window and numerous releases, the Chennai Super Kings presently own the second-largest purse (INR 43.4 Crore). Following the well-publicized transfer of Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran, they released Matheesha Pathirana and the New Zealand duo of Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra. Other notable releases included Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tripathi, and Deepak Hooda. CSK is currently able to fill nine spots, four of which are abroad.
Having cut eight players from their roster, Sunrisers Hyderabad now have the third-largest purse at INR 25.5 crore. Their largest move was trading Mohammed Shami to the Lucknow Super Giants; they also let go of Wiaan Mulder, Adam Zampa, Abhinav Manohar, and Rahul Chahar.
Following their releases, the Delhi Capitals and LSG each took home purses of INR 21.8 crore and INR 22.9 crore. LSG let rid of eight players, including David Miller, Akash Deep, Ravi Bishnoi, and Shamar Joseph, in addition to dealing out Shardul Thakur. The mainstays of DC’s seven releases were Mohit Sharma, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Donovan Ferreria (who was sold to RR), and Faf du Plessis. Despite the left-arm seamer playing in just two games for them previous season, DC maintained faith in their INR 10.75 Crore acquisition of T Natarajan.
After eight players, including Liam Livingstone, Tim Seifert, Lungi Ngidi, and Mayank Agarwal, were released, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the first-time IPL champions, ended up with a purse of INR 16.4 crore at the end of the retention deadline. There are now eight spots available for the IPL 2025 champions, including two abroad.
Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana, two spinners from Sri Lanka, were also released by the Rajasthan Royals, who transferred Sanju Samson to CSK and Nitish Rana to DC. With nine spots available (one overseas), RR released the following players: Kunal Singh Rathore, Akash Madhwal, Ashok Sharma, Fazalhaq Farooqi, and Kumar Kartikeya. They now have a purse of INR 16.05 Cr.
Along with releasing Gerald Coetzee, Dasun Shanaka, Mahipal Lomror, Karim Janat, and Kulwant Khejroliya, the former champion Gujarat Titans also traded out Sherfane Rutherford to MI. Five seats, including four abroad, and a purse of INR 12.9 crore are now theirs. IPL 2025 runners-up Punjab Kings released Josh Inglis and Glenn Maxwell, together with Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, and Praveen Dubey, to collect a payment of INR 11.5 crore. They also had four slots available, two of which were overseas.
Nine players were released by the Mumbai Indians, who acquired Rutherford, Thakur, and Markande during the trade window. Among the players released were Reece Topley, Bevon Jacobs, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Lizaad Williams, Karn Sharma, KL Shrijith, and Arjun Tendulkar (traded to LSG). Satyanaryana Raju and Vignesh Puthur also had a handful of strong performances in the 2025 season. The least amount of money of any team, INR 2.75 crore, was ultimately theirs.
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