The Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council has unveiled the retention rules for the upcoming IPL 2025 season. Teams have until October 31, 2024, to submit their retention lists, with the mega auction expected to take place in late November.
Each team can retain a maximum of six players, including one uncapped player if they utilize all their retentions. However, a crucial rule applies to uncapped cricketers.
“Any player who gets capped on or before October 31, 2024, will be considered a capped player for retention purposes,” the BCCI stated.
This means that Mayank Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Harshit Rana will no longer be eligible as uncapped players if they make their T20I debuts against Bangladesh. The trio’s inclusion in the squad suggests that India may test its bench strength in the upcoming series.
IPL franchises can retain up to six players from their previous squads, including the use of the Right To Match (RTM) card at the auction. The RTM card will cost Rs 75 crore from an enhanced team purse of Rs 120 crore.
In a significant move, the BCCI has declared that Indian players who have not played international cricket for at least five years will be considered uncapped players. This move is seen as a way to ensure that Chennai Super Kings can retain MS Dhoni, who last played for India in the 2019 ODI World Cup semifinal.
The retention cost for an uncapped player is Rs 4 crore, allowing CSK to retain Dhoni while saving significant funds for the auction. In the previous mega auction in 2022, teams were allowed up to four retentions.
Additionally, BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced a fixed match fee of Rs 7.50 lakh for all players selected for league games, with an additional Rs 1.05 crore income over and above their salaries. Franchises must maintain a fixed salary purse of Rs 12.60 crore in addition to the auction cum retention purse of Rs 120 crore for the upcoming season.
