Before the mega auction of IPL 2025, all 10 franchises have released their list of retained players. Sanju Samson was retained by the Rajasthan Royals for Rs 18 crore while the IPL teams dropped many big players, including five captains, both Indians and foreigners. Along with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju became the most valuable player for the Rajasthan Royals in the team that retained six players. On the other hand, this time a total of 46 players have been retained.

CSK retain MS Dhoni as uncapped player

CSK fans were happy to see Dhoni’s name in the list of retained players of the Chennai Super Kings. Dhoni has been retained by Chennai as an uncapped player for Rs 4 crore this time. According to the rules of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), if a player has not played international cricket for 5 years, then the franchise can retain him as an uncapped player. CSK took advantage of this rule and kept Mahi with them.

Rajasthan Royals Player Retention List

England’s Jos Buttler, spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, and R Ashwin Rajasthan Royals, who dropped Ashwin, retained Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel for Rs 14 crore. Shimron Hetmyer was retained for Rs 11 crore and Sandeep Sharma for Rs 4 crore. Sanju will be the captain for the upcoming season as well, the team said.

IPL Career of Sanju Samson so far

Sanju, who was with the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2012, joined the Rajasthan Royals in 2013 without getting a chance. Sanju’s IPL was against Punjab in a match where Dishant Yagnik, who was a regular wicketkeeper in the team, was ruled out due to an injury. Debut. Sanju, who scored 63 off 41 balls in the second match, then became the youngest player to score a half-century in the IPL. Sanju scored 206 runs in 10 innings and became the best young player of the season. Sanju was retained by Rajasthan in 2014. In 2016, he joined the Delhi team when the Rajasthan team was disqualified from the IPL. In 2017, he scored his first T20I century against the Rising Pune Supergiants.

Both teams utilities RTM rule

But Rajasthan Royals played their RTM rule card on Sandeep Sharma, who made his debut for India in 2015. During that time he got a chance to play a couple off T20Is on a Zimbabwe tour under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane. Sandeep took 1 wicket during that time, but after that, he never got a chance to play in the blue jersey. Rajasthan Royals have retained six key players, including captain Sanju Samson, ahead of the IPL auction to be held later this year. Sandeep played for his country but did not get a chance in the last five years. So he becomes an uncapped cricketer according to BCCI rules, like former Indian captain MS Dhoni.