With the announcement of IPL 2025 retentions list, Heinrich Klaasen has become the most expensive retained player in the history of the glitzy league. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) retained the South Africa's star wicketkeeper-batter Klaasen for Rs 23 crore on October 31.
Each franchise had the opportunity to retain up to six players while exercising by utilising the Right-To-Match (RTM) card during the auction. Franchises have the freedom to combine both methods to secure a maximum of six players from their 2024 squad.
Before Klaasen has apparently shattered Virat Kohli's record of becoming the most expensive retained player in the history of IPL. In 2017, ahead of the IPL 2018 auction, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) made history by retaining Virat Kohli for a staggering Rs 17 crore, making him the most expensive player retention in IPL history. This amount exceeded the price cap for the top retention slot by two crores. However, in 2022, Kohli took a significant pay cut, being retained for Rs 15 crore.
However, Klaasen has shattered the earlier record and scripted history. However, the price cap for the top retention slot was set at Rs 18 crore, SRH splurged a whopping Rs 23 crore on Klaasen to top Kohli's previous record.
List of players SRH retained for IPL 2025:
Pat Cummins: 18 cr
Abhishek Sharma: 14 cr
Nitish Kumar Reddy: 6 cr
Heinrich Klaasen: 23 cr
Travis Head: 14 cr
