IPL 2025: New Star Ousts Virat Kohli As Highest-Paid Retained Player

With the coveted Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) teams having finalized and announced the list of final retained players, cricket fever is already at its height. Notably, a while back, the tournament's governing committee established new guidelines for selecting and forming teams for the upcoming campaign.

Consequently, a number of elite players were let go, a decision that both cricket experts and fans found perplexing. Young players who demonstrated their abilities throughout the previous season were among the unexpected additions. As a result, India's largest cricket carnival returned with gusto, but not before Virat Kohli, the standout player, made headlines.

For certain players, the clubs broke the bank during the IPL 2025 retention. It was especially beneficial to players like Henrich Klaasen and Virat Kohli. Royal Challengers Bengaluru paid Kohli Rs 21 crore to keep him, but Heinrich Klaasen broke his record for the biggest retention sum in IPL history. SunRisers Hyderabad paid an enormous Rs 23 crore to retain the batsman-wicketkeeper. Thus, Klaasen became the most expensive player ever signed to an IPL contract. Prior to this, Kohli held the record with a Rs 17 crore retention sum.

Heinrich Klaasen tops the list:

Before the massive IPL 2025 auctions, the storied Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) was about to become the most expensive retained player. To keep one of the most dynamic and potent players, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) franchise had different ideas and spent a lot of money. Heinrich Klaasen of South Africa stole the show when all IPL teams unveiled their strategies on Thursday, October 31. He surpassed Kohli to become the most expensive retained player in IPL history.

In contrast, Kohli earned INR 21 crores. For a total of INR 18 crores, the majority of household names were kept. It's interesting to note that some franchises developed their own calculations in contrast to the governing council's structure, which called for the franchises to employ the formula of INR 18, 14, 11, 18, and 14 crores, respectively, since this adds up to a net budget of 75 crores. In addition, the final week of November is when the IPL 2025 super auctions will take place.

Watch this space for more cricket news.