A subtle twist in the rule book for the IPL’s Right to Match option has left the franchises pondering over its efficacy ahead of the mega auction in November.
The governing council on Saturday decided that franchises can retain up to a maximum of six players each for IPL 2025, via a combination of retention and the RTM
option.
“The six retentions/RTMs can have a maximum of five capped players (Indian and overseas) and a maximum of two uncapped players,” the IPL said in a media release.
The BCCI formally approved the IPL governing council’s recommendations at its annual general meeting in Bengaluru on Sunday.
While earlier a franchise could simply match the highest bid amount at the auction, this time the highest bidder will be given one final opportunity to further raise their
bid before the team holding the RTM card claims the player.
“The highest bidder will be given one final opportunity to raise their bid for a player before the team holding the RTM card can exercise their right,” the modified RTM clause states.
“For example, if Team 1 holds the RTM for Player X and Team 2 has placed the highest bid of INR 6 crore, then Team 1 will be first asked if they will exercise RTM, if Team 1 agrees, then Team 2 will have the chance to increase their bid.
“If Team 2 raises their bid to INR 9 crore, then Team 1 can use the RTM and acquire Player X for INR 9 crore. If Team 2 chooses not to raise the bid and keeps it at INR 6 crore, Team 1 can use the RTM and get Player X for INR 6 crore.”
The IPL’s logic is simple — it will enable the player to get his true value and attract top-tier players to the auction pool. Besides, it will also allow the franchise with the RTM card to show how much they are keen to get the player back into their fold.
However, not all franchises are happy with this change. “As it is, the RTM allows the other teams to artificially ramp up a player’s price at the auction. Now with this clause they can manipulate things further,” a franchise official told The Telegraph.
It is believed that this process may not benefit star-studded teams like Mumbai Indians who will have to spend ₹75 crore (Cost of retention: ₹18 crore + ₹14 crore + ₹11 crore + ₹18 crore + ₹14 crore) if they decide to retain five capped players — Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan/Tilak Varma.
They will go into the auction with ₹45 crore in such circumstances and may be further forced to dish out a substantial sum from that pool if they use the RTM option. It will then leave them with very little auction purse to build a balanced squad.
If they retain a sixth player in an uncapped Indian, they will have to lay out another ₹4 crore. If a player is uncapped before the expiry of the October 31 deadline but makes his debut after that, he will still be considered uncapped.
The retention and RTM option policy could affect Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals too if they go for all five retentions plus an uncapped Indian.
The franchises may be forced to make some tough calls while unravelling the true value of a player and make the auction process more competitive.
The next few weeks could be interesting as it will provide an insight into the policy for the big guns like MI, CSK and KKR.
Dalmiya favourite
Governing council member Avishek Dalmiya is tipped to be the new BCCI representative on the ICC board. IPL chairman Arun Dhumal is already part of the global body’s chief executives’ committee.
The need arose after secretary Jay Shah, who has represented the BCCI thus far, was elevated to the ICC chairman’s position from December 1.
The AGM entrusted the office-bearers to recommend two names — director and alternate director — ahead of the ICC conclave in Dubai in October following the final of the upcoming women’s T20 World Cup.
Both Dhumal and Dalmiya were re-elected unopposed to the governing council on Sunday. V. Chamundeswarnath will continue as the nominated representative of the Indian Cricketers’ Association in the council.
It was also decided that the Duleep Trophy will go back to its traditional zonal format from next year. The four-team concept — India A, India B, India C, India D — didn’t get the members’ approval.