The IPL franchises have been allowed a maximum of six retentions, including the Right to Match (RTM) option, for the mega auctionin November.
The six players a franchise can retain can be via the direct retention route or a combination of both — the teams will have the option of going for five retentions with one RTM card, four retentions with two RTM cards, three retentions with three RTM cards or as the case may be.
The BCCI announced that of the six players, at least one has to be an uncapped Indian player with the remaining five being Indians and overseas. A maximum of two uncapped players will be permitted among those retained.
The IPL governing council zeroed in on the policy during its meeting in Bengaluru on Saturday. Each of the 10 franchises will be allowed a total auction purse of ₹120 crore for IPL 2025, ₹20 crore more than last year.
The Telegraph understands that if a team wants to retain all six players, the franchise will lose ₹79 crore from its overall purse and go into the auction with ₹41 crore. For the first three retentions, the franchisewill have to dish out ₹18 crore, ₹14 crore and ₹11 crore, respectively.
For the remaining two, it will mean a deduction of another ₹18 crore and ₹14 crore. Another ₹4 crore will go for the uncapped player.
To make the IPL more attractive vis-a-vis other franchise leagues around the world, the BCCI also announced the introduction of a match fee of ₹7.5 lakh for the cricketers, both Indian and overseas, above their contracted amount.
Another reason for the proposal was to improve the players’ earnings who had been signed at the base price (₹20 lakh for uncapped players and ₹50 lakh for capped players at the last auction) but has since excelled on the field.
“In a historic move to celebrate consistency and champion outstanding performances in the #IPL, we are thrilled to introduce a match fee of INR 7.5 lakhs per game for our cricketers! A cricketer playing all league matches in a season will get Rs. 1.05 crores in addition to his contracted amount,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah wrote on X.
“Each franchise will allocate INR 12.60 crores as match fees for the season! This is a new era for the #IPL and our players,” the post said.
The revamped fee structure means a player playing in all 14 league games will get to pocket an additional ₹1.05 crore over his contracted amount.
The sum allocated as match fees by the franchise for the season will be separate from the auction purse. Each playing member, including the Impact Player, will be eligible for the match fee which works out to ₹90 lakh per match.
‘Uncapped’ Dhoni
The decks have been cleared for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to be retained as an uncapped player by CSK.
The return of the uncapped player clause, a rule instituted in 2008 but scrapped in 2021, means Dhoni will be eligible to be retained under it. It applies to only Indian players who have not played any international cricket in the previous five calendar years.
If CSK decide to retain him as an uncapped player, only ₹4 crore will be deducted from their purse.
This will be the highest number of retentions allowed in the tournament’s history. The RTM card allows the franchise to buy back its player during the auction by matching the highest bid made for the player. This was discarded by the IPL governing council during the 2022 auction.
While maintaining that the Impact Player rule will continue, the BCCI also came down heavily on players, especially foreigners, who withdraw at the last minute without any valid reason leading to problems for the franchises.
“Any player who registers in the player auction and after getting picked at the auction, makes himself unavailable before the start of the season, will get banned from participating in the tournament and player auction for 2 seasons,” the BCCI said.
Governing council
IPL chairman Arun Singh Dhumal and Avishek Dalmiya will continue in the governing council for another season. The election of the two will be confirmed at the BCCI’s annual general meeting on Sunday.
