The Indian Premier League (IPL) announced the regulations for the upcoming mega auction for the 2025 season after the members of the Governing Council met in Bengaluru on Saturday, following a constructive dialogue with the owners of the 10 franchises in July at the BCCI Headquarters. Franchises have been allowed to retain six players from their existing squad, either via retention or using the Right to Match (RTM) option. The IPL also increased the purse decided to increase the overall purse by a whopping 33 per cent.
All ten teams will have a purse of INR 120 crore, a massive increase of 33.34 per cent compared to the value of INR 90 crore set ahead of the mega auction in 2022. "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)," read the IPL statement.
The IPL gave freedom to all the franchises to choose their combination for Retentions and RTMs, but add that they can have a maximum of 5 capped players (Indian & Overseas) and a maximum of 2 uncapped players.
The members of the Governing Council also revived the "uncapped player" rule after three years, wherein, "a capped Indian player cab become uncapped if the player has in the last five calendar years preceding the year in which the relevant Season is held, not played in the starting XI in International Cricket (Test match, ODI, Twenty20 International) or does not have a Central Contract with BCCI." However, the rule is only applicable for Indian players.
{{/usCountry}}The members of the Governing Council also revived the "uncapped player" rule after three years, wherein, "a capped Indian player cab become uncapped if the player has in the last five calendar years preceding the year in which the relevant Season is held, not played in the starting XI in International Cricket (Test match, ODI, Twenty20 International) or does not have a Central Contract with BCCI." However, the rule is only applicable for Indian players.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier in the evening, Sports Tak reported a tricky pre-auction rule pertaining to the retention slab. If a franchise retains five players ahead of the mega auction, reportedly set to be held in November with the venue yet to be decided, they will have to shell out INR 75 crore from their total purse.
The breakdown of the retention slab, however, stands as follows:
1st retention: Rs. 18cr
2nd retention: Rs. 14cr
3rd retention: Rs. 11cr
4th retention: Rs. 18cr
5th retention: Rs. 14cr
The total value on the retention slab is a sharp increase from the amount set for the 2022 auction, where a franchise, retaining four players (permitted limit) will be debited INR 42 crore, with the breakdown being: INR 16 crore for the first, INR 12 crore for the second, INR 8 crore for the third and INR 6 crore for the fourth.
The report further revealed that, given the '5+1' rule set for the auction, if a franchise does not retain five players, it can use the RTM option for the remainder of the slots. For example, a team can use the RTM option for three players if it retains only three. There are also no cap on number of Indian and overseas players that a team can retain.