The ten IPL teams will likely be allowed five retentions each as well as the option of using one right-to-match card during the IPL 2025 auction. ESPNcricinfo has learned that the IPL is most likely looking at approving this option as soon as it finalises the retention rules ahead of the mega auction for the 2025 season.
It could not yet be confirmed how many Indian players can be part of the set of retained players or whether there will be a cap on retained overseas players. What is also unknown are the retention slabs. The overall purse, it is understood, will be INR 120 crore.
If the IPL governing council, which was expected to meet this weekend in Bengaluru ahead of the BCCI's annual general meeting on Sunday, approves this 5 + 1 model, it would be highest number of retentions allowed in the tournament's history.
Ahead of the 2017 mega auction to pick squads for IPL 2018, five retentions were allowed, with a combination of up to three direct retentions or three RTM cards, with a cap of three Indian players.
The RTM option, which allows the franchise the ability to buy back its player during the auction by matching the highest bid made for the player by another franchise, once the bidding is over, was discarded by IPL ahead of the 2022 mega auction. The eight existing teams were allowed to retain a maximum of four players each, while Gujrat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants, the two new franchises, were given the option of selecting three players from the rest of the player pool before the auction. The purse for the 2022 auction was set at INR 90 crore, INR 10 crore more than in 2017.
While the IPL is understood to have indicated to the franchises the possibility of the player auction taking place around late November, it has delayed finalising and sharing the retention rules. This despite the IPL telling franchises during a meeting with team owners and representatives in Mumbai on July 31 that retention rules would be finalised and shared by the end of August.
Incidentally, the RTM card was one of the key points debated at the July meeting. It is understood that at least three franchises were in favour of having up to eight RTMs, but several other franchises objected to the idea. Among them was Sunrisers Hyderabad, whose owner Kavya Maran said her franchise would favour seven RTMs while adding that there should be no restriction on how overseas or Indian players were retained.
Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal said he was not in favour of the IPL retaining the Impact Player rule, which allows teams to field an extra specialist batter or bowler during a match, a factor that has contributed to record totals in the last two seasons.
One other significant point, which the IPL informed franchises it was in favour of bringing back, was the rule pertaining to capped Indian players who have retired from international cricket or not played international cricket for five years being categorised as uncapped. The rule had been scrapped by the IPL after the 2021 season. If this rule is brought back, it could allow Chennai Super Kings to potentially retain their talisman and former captain MS Dhoni as an uncapped player, which could allow them to have a strong purse going into the auction. In 2017 the IPL had listed INR 3 crore as the price for an uncapped player retention which was increased to INR 4 crore in 2021.