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IPL auction 2023
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The Board of Control for Cricket in India has come up with a new list of rules for retention and auction for the upcoming IPL 2025 season. With excitement building up among fans and franchises, these rules will shape how teams build their squads for the upcoming edition of the T20 league.

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The announcement brings clarity on how many players each team can retain and the balance between Indian and overseas players.

How many players can teams retain?

The IPL Governing Council convened a meeting on Saturday, September 28 in Bengaluru. As per the new rule set by IPL, each franchise can retain up to 6 players, including 1 uncapped Indian player. The remaining five can be all domestic or foreign players.

The teams will also see an increase in purse value as they will now be allowed to spend a maximum of INR 20 crores, INR 20 crore more than the previous edition.

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The return of RTM cards

The Right to Match (RTM) cards have been reintroduced for IPL 2025. The six players that the players are allowed to retain can be via the direct retention route, a combination of retention and RTMs or just RTMs.  

This addition brings a strategic advantage to teams aiming to retain key players from the previous season.

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Retention slabs

  • First three retained players will come under the fee structure of INR 18 crore, INR 14 crore and INR 11 crore.
  • The remaining two will come under INR 18 crore and INR 14 crore respectively.
  • The uncapped player can be retained under the existing INR 4 crore cap.

In a nutshell, an IPL franchise that decide to retain five players will see a deduction of INR 75 crore and in case of retaining six players, INR 79 crore will be taken away from their purse before the mega auction.

MS Dhoni to come under the 'Uncapped Player' category

Much to the relief of Chennai Super Kings, BCCI have brought back an old IPL rule from 2008 which considers a retired player for over five years to come under the uncapped category. This means that CSK will be able to register MS Dhoni without much hindrance.

This rule was never utilised since the inception of the league which led to BCCI scrapping the rule in 2021. 

Impact player rule to stay 

Despite several players and teams raising concerns over the Impact Player rule, BCCI have decided against scrapping it. 

Under the Impact Player rule, a cricketer can be super-subbed at any point in the game with a substitute player replacing a starting XI member.

Strict rules for Overseas stars

Another new rule that will come into effect starting IPL 2025 is the mandatory registration of overseas players. Any overseas star who does not register himself in the auction will not be allowed to take part in the auction in the succeeding season.

Also, any overseas player who makes himself unavailable after being picked in the auction will be barred from taking part in the competition for the next two editions. 

When will the IPL 2025 Mega Auction take place?

The IPL 2025 Mega Auction is scheduled for the third week of November, however, an official communication from the BCCI is awaited. 

The combination of retentions and RTM cards means that franchises must balance between holding onto key players and making fresh acquisitions during the auction. All eyes are now on the upcoming auction as franchises gear up to build their squads for the next IPL season.

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Divy Dubey Photo

Divy Dubey is a content producer for The Sporting News' India edition.