Rishabh Pant Set To Lead Lucknow Super Giants In IPL 2025

Rishabh Pant

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have crowned Rishabh Pant as their new Captain, the franchise declared on Monday in Kolkata. Rishabh Pant Is The Costliest Player In IPL History Rishabh Pant was bought for a record-breaking INR 27 crore in the November 2024 IPL auction by LSG. He is now the most expensive player in IPL history. This will be Pant’s second IPL team after being the captain of Delhi Capitals (DC) during the 2021, 2022, and 2024 seasons. Injuries due to the severity of the hurt did not allow him to participate in the 2023 season. Rishabh Pant Moves From Delhi Capitals To Lucknow Super Giants Rishabh Pant made a move from DC after the franchise decided not to retain him as Captain even as they offered a place in the squad. He was subsequently opened up to entering the auction process, which the LSG side took to his advantage as he was signed on, in a bid to provide an Indian skipper, since KL Rahul bade goodbye from the outfit. Rahul had captained LSG from 2022 to 2024. In the first two seasons, he took LSG to the playoffs. In 2024, LSG finished seventh. The tensions between Rahul and the owner of the team, Sanjiv Goenka, were visibly visible in the match. This is the reason Rahul moved to Delhi Capitals. Rishabh Pant’s Record-Breaking Auction Victory for LSG After leading DC for several seasons, Rishabh Pant entered the auction ahead of IPL 2025 at a base price of INR 2 crore. The bidding was competitive, with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) challenging LSG. The Super Giants secured Pant for INR 27 crore after a dramatic back-and-forth, breaking the IPL auction record. Rishabh Pant Leads New-Look Lucknow Super Giants Squad LSG had actively been on a lookout for captaincy after deciding to let go of KL Rahul, and their first choice proved to be Rishabh Pant. Pant formed the core acquisition of the IPL franchise, helping LSG’s strategy of reinforcing their pace-bowling bench with Indian talent as well as signing foreign stars from Avesh Khan and Akash Deep up to Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh or David Miller. Rishabh Pant To Team Up with Justin Langer and Zaheer Khan Rishabh Pant will now head the Lucknow Super Giants along with head coach Justin Langer and mentor Zaheer Khan as they look to form a new competitive team for the upcoming IPL season. However, one question still remains hanging. Will a change in Captain bring a change in fortunes for the Lucknow Super Giants? The Sportz Planet Desk,Atharva Shetye

IPL 2025: Rajasthan Royals Likely To Retain Four Players

Rajasthan Royals

The Rajasthan Royals (RR) are likely to retain four players ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction, including Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag and Sandeep Sharma. Surprisingly, wicketkeeper-opening batter, Jos Buttler and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal are not part of the initial retention list, however the Royals have the right-to-match for both and can try bringing them back at the auctions, as per reports. Rajasthan Royals Deliberating On Jurel Another name that has been deliberated is the wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, picked up for INR 20 lakhs in an auction conducted to pick a team for the 2022 season. Recently, Jurel received his first India test cap playing a home test against England. It has been revealed that Jurel has been quite influential from the bottom end. For 22 innings, Dhruv Jurel has shown his excellence to hit at a strike rate of 151.52 for scoring 347 runs. Budget Implications For Rajasthan Royals These four retentions would take a minimum of INR 47 crore from the budget for the Royals. Including Jurel, that could take it to a higher INR 65 crore that would leave only INR 55 crore available to spend in the auction. As Sandeep is an uncapped player having not played international cricket over five years, there’s also the factor of regulations imposed by the IPL regarding a player’s status as one who has never represented any national team in any International Cricket match. Retained Player Performances This retained player group was crucial to the Royals’ making it to the IPL 2024 playoffs. Samson had his best IPL season with 531 runs, while Parag also had his most successful IPL season with 573 runs and earned a T20I debut with India. Sandeep, who was bought during the 2023 auction at INR 50 lakh, picked up 13 wickets at an economy of 8.18 and performed well in the powerplay and death overs. Although Jaiswal’s 2024 season was a bit subdued (435 runs at a 152 strike rate), he is one of India’s most promising young openers. RR Uncertain For Buttler And Chahal Jos Buttler and Yuzvendra Chahal, who have done so well in the past, have been considered to be in the retention list after their recent form and fitness issues. Buttler scored 359 runs with a strike rate of 141 in IPL 2024 but has been out since the T20 World Cup semi-final due to injuries. Chahal, on the other hand, stands as the highest wicket-taker in IPL’s history with 18 last season with an economy of 9.41 on most occasions when he bowls as an Impact Player to the Royals. The Sportz Planet Desk,Atharva Shetye

IPL 2025 Mega Auction: All You Need To Know In A Q&A Format

IPL 2025 Auction

With the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 Mega Auction just around the corner, franchises are finalizing player retention and fans are eagerly waiting for updates on team compositions. So, here’s a comprehensive Q&A on everything you want to know before the big day. Q1: How many players can each IPL team retain before the mega auction? As many as six players can be retained by each team from their IPL 2024 roster. Those can include a maximum of five capped internationals and two uncapped Indian players. This six-player retention limit helps retain the core for teams before the auction. Q2: What is the cost of player retention for teams? Every IPL franchise has a budget of INR 120 crore for building their squads for the 2025 season, up 20% from last year. Here is the list: First retained player: INR 18 croreSecond retained player: INR 14 croreThird retained player: INR 11 croreFourth retained player: INR 18 croreFifth retained player: INR 14 croreEvery uncapped Indian player: INR 4 crore If a team continues to retain five capped players then they will lose at least INR 75 crores from their purse. Q3: Are the five capped players to be decided or split by the team within the retention amount? Yes. The amount of INR 75 crore that is required to retain five capped players can be split in any proportion, but the total amount cannot exceed INR 75 crore. So, if a franchise wants to retain its star player at INR 23 crore, it could retain a fifth player at a lower amount to balance the budget. Q4: What’s the buzz around player retention and the challenges teams face? Sunrisers Hyderabad has only fueled the controversy with reports that it plans to retain Heinrich Klaasen for INR 23 crore. In this case, the other teams like Mumbai Indians who are planning to retain the marquee players Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav, would be the ones having to make tricky decisions regarding fair distribution of their retention purse. Besides, there is talk that the players such as Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer may also choose to go for the auction rather than retention. Q5: What is the Right-to-Match (RTM) option and how does it work? The RTM option allows teams to bid back for players during the auction if they did not retain them earlier. Here’s how it works. A team that retains less than six players on October 31 can use RTM options in the mega auction. If they retain three players, for instance, they are eligible to use three RTM options. In the IPL 2025 auction, if the former player of a team is sold by another franchise, the selling team has an option to match the highest and buy back the player However, this year, with a new twist, should a team exercise an RTM, the highest bidding franchise can raise their original bid again. The exercising team must then match this new, higher bid so that they can secure the player. Q6. How does the RTM rule affect uncapped players? If an IPL franchise has retained five capped players, they can only use their RTM option to buy back an uncapped player. If two uncapped players are already retained, teams can’t use RTM on an additional uncapped player during the auction. Q7: Why is MS Dhoni now considered an uncapped player and how does that impact Chennai Super Kings? The IPL has brought back a regulation through which players who retired, or have not played cricket at the international level within the last five years of the draft, would go under the uncapped segment. This ensures the Chennai Super Kings can keep MS Dhoni as an uncapped player and forfeit just INR 4 crores from their purse while the rest can be more.  Q8: Can a player decline retention by his own IPL franchise? Yes. A player can decline a retention offered by his very own IPL franchise and go under the hammer. Also, no trades of players allowed between the date of the retention on October 31, 2024 and the start of IPL 2025 season. Q9: When is the IPL 2025 Mega Auction? Although the official date for the IPL 2025 Mega Auction is yet not declared, it is supposed to happen in the last week of November. The IPL auction generally happens over two days. The retention deadline draws near on October 31st, 2024 and teams build up on their strategies ahead of what is to be an exciting IPL 2025 Mega Auction. The Sportz Planet Desk,Atharva Shetye

IPL 2025 Retention Rules Announced

IPL

The wait is finally over! The Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction 2025 retention rules  are finally out. Fans have been abuzz, and now, it’s the turn of the IPL Governing Council to make things official. Here’s what the retention rules look like. 1. Retention Limit A franchise is entitled to retain only 6 players from its existing squad. This includes, however, both standard retentions as well as the RTM. 2. Retention And RTM Teams can choose to impact the number of retention and RTMs, however must have an absolute cap of 5 capped players either Indian or overseas and up to 2 uncapped players. 3. Salary Cap The franchise auction purse has been put at INR 120 Crore for IPL 2025. It includes the total salary cap with an auction purse, performance bonuses and new match fees. This amount has increased from 2024’s total of INR 110 Crore and will be INR 146 Crore in 2025, INR 151 Crore in 2026, and INR 157 Crore in 2027. 4. Additional Match Fees For the first time ever, all players including the Impact Player, will be entitled to a match fee of INR 7.5 Lakhs besides his contracted salary on each match played. 5. Overseas Player Registration An overseas player who wants to play will have to get himself registered for the IPL Mega Auction. Any player, not getting himself registered for the Big Auction, cannot attend the following seasons in the auctions. 6. No-Shows Face Consequences Players who are selected at the auction but are unavailable during the season will be banned by the IPL for 2 seasons. 7. Capped And Uncapped Rule Each Indian player who never played in the starting XI for a Test, an ODI or a T20I in the last five years or does not hold a BCCI central contract will be declared as uncapped. This is only applicable to Indian players. 8. Impact Sub Continues The impact player rule remains in force for the IPL 2025–2027 cycle. Now that the official rules are out, let the speculations begin! Which stars will your favorite franchise lock in for the upcoming IPL season? The Sportz Planet Desk,Atharva Shetye