IPL mega auction buzz: Six retained stars and strategic RTM moves

Jay Shah (Pic: X)

The 10 IPL franchises will be allowed to retain a maximum of six players from their previous squads, including usage Right To Match (RTM) card at the auction that will cost Rs 75 crore out of an enhanced team purse of Rs 120 crore, the IPL governing council decided on Saturday.

In a significant move, the BCCI also decided that all those India players, who haven't played any international game for at least five calendar years will deemed "uncapped players", a move being seen to ensure that Chennai Super Kings can retain the peerless Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who last played for the country in the 2019 ODI World Cup semifinal.

It is learnt that for an uncapped player, the retention cost will be Rs 4 crore and hence CSK even if they retain Dhoni, can surely save a lot for the auction.

A team was allowed up to four retentions in the last mega auction held in 2022.

On the day, BCCI secretary Jay Shah also announced a fixed match fee of Rs 7.50 lakh for all players selected to play the league games with an additional 1.05 crore income over and above their salaries.

A fixed salary purse of Rs 12.60 crore in addition to the auction cum retention purse of Rs 120 crore will have to be kept by the franchises for next season.

"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)," the BCCI release stated.

The IPL franchises can now retain 6 players from their existing squad, either via retention or by using the RTM option.

It is the discretion of the franchise to choose its combination for Retentions and RTMs. The 6 retention/RTMs can have a maximum of 5 capped players (Indian & Overseas) and a maximum of 2 uncapped players.

Also Read: IPL teams divided over mega auction, impact player rule

While the retention valuation wasn't given in the BCCI media release, the PTI confirmed it from an IPL GC source.

"The first retention will cost Rs 18 crore followed by second retention of Rs 14 crore and third retention of Rs 11 crore. However, if a franchise opts for fourth and fifth retention, they will again have to pay Rs 18 crore and Rs 14 crore respectively.

"So, any franchise opts for all five retention of capped players, then will have only Rs 45 crore to buy or even use their RTM card to buy another 15 players and prepare a squad. There is no cap on Indian and overseas retention," a senior BCCI and IPL governing council member told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

It is understood that most of the stronger franchises like Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad were in favour of six to eight retentions as opposed to likes of some other franchises which don't have too much star power.

"We introduced more deductions for retention four and five to ensure a level playing field. You can go ahead and retain five but then you will have less than Rs 50 crore to deal with at the auction table.

"Also if franchises opt for only three retentions, then more star value will be added to auction and some of the teams with lesser strength can set their house in order. The idea is to have a good competition," the source said.

This is the route possibly BCCI wants to take.

If Mumbai Indians want to retain Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Thilak Varma, Rs 75 crore will be deducted from their purse.

And then with Rs 45 crore at auction, what happens if Ishan Kishan's price skyrockets to Rs 15 crore and they are forced to use a RTM card.

It then effectively boils down to Rs 30 crore to select 14 more players.

One needs to note that retention price is only a deduction from the team purse for the auction but it may or may not be the actual salary of the player which is a player-franchise separate contract.

Meanwhile, Shah took to twitter to announce the per match fee which effectively means that an uncapped Indian player, who can play three games of IPL, stands to earn Rs 22.5 lakh apart from a minimum base price of Rs 20 lakh.

Hence, he can earn 42.5 lakh in a season by playing just three games of three hours whereas if he plays 10 Ranji Trophy games in a season, he stands to earn Rs 24 lakh only.

"In a historic move to celebrate consistency and champion outstanding performances in the IPL, we are thrilled to introduce a match fee of INR 7.5 lakhs per game for our cricketers! "A cricketer playing all league matches in a season will get Rs. 1.05 crores in addition to his contracted amount," Shah tweeted.

Rules specifically for overseas players

Select English and Australian players have time and again ditched their franchises after getting picked at the auction, often citing fatigue and other priorities.

The BCCI is now planning to impose a 2-year ban on any player who withdraws after being picked at the auction.

Specifically for overseas stars, if they don't register for an auction during a year, they can't participate for another two years.

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