With the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) making the rules for the upcoming mega Indian Premier League (IPL) auction official, fans and team managements of various franchises are thrown into confusion over which players to retain and whom to let go.
The 10 IPL franchises will be allowed to retain a maximum of six players from their previous squads, including usage of the Right To Match (RTM) card at the auction that will cost Rs 75 crore out of an enhanced team purse of Rs 120 crore, the IPL governing council decided on Saturday.
In a significant move, the BCCI also decided that all those India players, who haven't played any international game for at least five calendar years will deemed "uncapped players", a move being seen to ensure that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) can retain the peerless Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who last played for the country in the 2019 ODI World Cup semifinal.
It is learnt that for an uncapped player, the retention cost will be Rs 4 crore and hence CSK even if they retain Dhoni, can surely save a lot for the auction. CSK might look to retain their captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and star players Jadeja, Pathirana or Dube.
A team was allowed up to four retentions in the last mega auction held in 2022.
On the day, BCCI secretary Jay Shah also announced a fixed match fee of Rs 7.50 lakh for all players selected to play the league games with an additional 1.05 crore income over and above their salaries.
The decision of the Mumbai Indians (MI) management for the mega auctions will surely be one of the most followed and interesting one for fans and experts alike, because of the sudden and controversial change of captaincy during the last season. What is even more interesting is the rumors surrounding Rohit Sharma claiming he's certain to leave the Mumbai side and may join KKR or LSG.
The five-time champion franchise may look to retain Suryakumar Yadav and Bumrah, while there is a lot of uncertainty around Hardik and Rohit. There were speculations that two camps were formed in the MI dressing room last season, which is not a good sign for any champion side. However, the management who roped Hardik in a massive deal may not be keen on taking him out and Rohit Sharma's choice whether to stay or leave is also uncertain.
Meanwhile, the 2016 champion side, Sunrisers Hyderabad may be certain to retain their star players who almost won them the cup last season. Which includes the likes of Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen, Pat Cummins and Abhishek Sharma. They may also look to continue relationships with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan.
Meanwhile, a fixed salary purse of Rs 12.60 crore in addition to the auction cum retention purse of Rs 120 crore will have to be kept by the franchises for next season. "The total salary cap will now consist of auction purse, incremental performance pay and match fees. Previously in 2024, the total salary cap (auction purse + incremental performance pay) was Rs. 110 Crs which will now be Rs. 146 Crs (2025), Rs. 151 Crs (2026) and Rs. 157 Crs (2027)," the BCCI release stated.
The IPL franchises can now retain 6 players from their existing squad, either via retention or by using the RTM option.
It is the discretion of the franchise to choose its combination for Retentions and RTMs. The 6 retention/RTMs can have a maximum of 5 capped players (Indian & Overseas) and a maximum of 2 uncapped players.
While the retention valuation wasn't given in the BCCI media release, the PTI confirmed it from an IPL GC source.
The first retention will cost Rs 18 crore followed by second retention of Rs 14 crore and third retention of Rs 11 crore. However, if a franchise opts for fourth and fifth retention, they will again have to pay Rs 18 crore and Rs 14 crore respectively.
"So, any franchise opts for all five retention of capped players, then will have only Rs 45 crore to buy or even use their RTM card to buy another 15 players and prepare a squad. There is no cap on Indian and overseas retention," a senior BCCI and IPL governing council member told PTI on conditions of anonymity.