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IPL 2025 Retention Rules: Maximum player limit, ‘MS Dhoni’ uncapped rule, return of RTM and more - all you need to know
The teams will have to submit their list of retained players ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction on Thursday.
The time is drawing near for Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises to unveil their player retention lists. The retentions are expected to spark intense drama, with franchises often making game-changing moves that shift the league's dynamics. This year, several notable rule changes promise to add a new layer of strategy, making it essential for even seasoned IPL followers to refresh their knowledge. Here’s an essential guide to everything you need to know before the retention lists are revealed.
When will the retentions be announced?
The deadline day for teams to submit their list of retentions is 5pm IST on October 31 (Thursday). Jio Cinema, the primary broadcaster of the IPL, will air a show on it starting at 4.30pm IST.
How many players can a team retain?
Each franchise can retain six players from their 2024 squad. This can be in the retention phase or by using the right-to-match card at the auction itself. There’s no cap on the no. of overseas players that can be retained. A franchise can opt for only foreigners to be retained. However, a franchise can only retain a maximum of five capped internationals and two uncapped players, whether Indian or overseas.
What is the purse available for a franchise and how much of it will they spend on retentions?
A franchise has a purse of ₹120 crore for the auction, which is 20 per cent increase from last year. The base retention value of an uncapped player is ₹4 crore. For internationals, the franchise will have to spend ₹18 crore for the first player retained, ₹14 crore for the second, ₹11 crore for the third, ₹18 crore for the fourth and ₹14 crore for the fifth. It means that if a team decides to retain the maximum possible limit of five international players plus one uncapped player, they would have spent ₹79 crore out of their purse already.
Franchises can also end up spending more than the minimum base price of the players, which means that the ₹75 crore that they will spend on five retained capped players can be distributed in any way they wish. Additionally, if the franchise end up having to spend more than ₹75 crore on five retentions of capped players, then that amount will be deducted from their purses.
What is the new uncapped player rule pertaining to Indians who have retired and why is it being called 'MS Dhoni rule'?
The BCCI has brought back a rule that allowed Indian players who has not played international cricket for five years prior to the concerned season to go into the IPL auction as "uncapped players". The rule was in place since the inaugural season in 2008 and scrapped in 2021. This means that MS Dhoni, whose last international match was the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup, can be retained by CSK for ₹4 crore, unless they decide to pay him more. It has been widely touted that the rule has been brought back to make it easier for CSK to retain the 43-year-old World Cup-winning former India captain, with Dhoni still arguably the biggest draw in the league.
What is Right-to-Match?
A team can either retain their players by putting their names down on the list by the deadline on Thursday. Those who don't put all six names on the list can opt to retain players during the auction using the Right-to-Match (RTM) card. This means that if a team announces only three names by the deadline, they have three RTM options during the auction; if they announce four names by the deadline, they have two RTM options, and so on.
Teams cannot skirt around the limits of number of capped and uncapped players that can be retained using RTM though. If they have retained five capped players, they can use RTM only for an uncapped player. If they have retained two uncapped players, they cannot use RTM for uncapped players during the mega auction.
How the RTM option will work
If a player is bought by a team during the auction, the franchise he played for in the previous season can automatically match that bid and bring the player back into their squad. This year, though, there is an added twist to the rule. The franchise that made the winning bid will now be given the option to raise their bid to whatever amount they wish, and the side using RTM will then have to match that.
