EXPLAINED: Why Kolkata Knight Riders And Rajasthan Royals Will Not Have Any RTM Cards In IPL 2025 Mega Auction

The IPL 2025 will return with a bang in its 18th edition, as the mega auction makes its comeback after three years. All the 10 franchises have announced which players they have retained and released as the deadline closed on October 31. The teams will now have the option to exercise their Right To Match (RTM) card at the auction to bring back some more players. However, two franchises, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) will not be able to exercise their RTM cards.

Why KKR And RR Cannot Use RTM Card?Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals are the only two franchises to have retained the full quote of 6 players specified by the BCCI. According to the retention rules, the number of players a franchise retains determines the number of RTM cards they would have at the auction. This means that if a franchise retains 4 players like Delhi Capitals, they would have 2 RTM cards. Since, KKR and RR have retained 6 players each, they do not have any RTM cards left for them to exercise in the auction. Who Have KKR And RR Retained?Kolkata Knight Riders have made Rinku Singh their most expensive retention with Rs 13 crore, followed by Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Varun Chakravarthy, each of whom received Rs 12 crore. KKR made two uncapped retentions in the form of Ramandeep Singh and Harshit Rana. On the other hand, Shreyas Iyer became the first-ever reigning IPL-winning captain to be released by a franchise.Rajasthan Royals retained Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal for Rs 18 crore. On the other hand, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel were retained for Rs 14 crore. Shimron Hetmyer became their only overseas retention for Rs 11 crore, while Sandeep Sharma was their uncapped retention for Rs 4 crore. KKR Retained Players List: Sunil Narine (Rs 12 cr), Andre Russell (Rs 12 cr), Rinku Singh (Rs 13 cr), Varun Chakaravarthy (Rs 12 cr), Ramandeep Singh (Rs 4 cr) and Harshit Rana (Rs 4 cr) RR Retained Players List: Sanju Samson (Rs 18 cr), Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rs 18 cr), Riyan Parag (Rs 14 cr), Dhruv Jurel (Rs 14 cr), Shimron Hetmyer (Rs 11 cr), Sandeep Sharma (Rs 4 cr)