IPL 2025 mega auction: Six retentions, RTM back, Impact Player to stay

Each franchise will have a purse of INR 120 cr with which to build a squad for the coming season

PTI Bengaluru: The 10 IPL franchises will be allowed to retain a maximum of six players from their previous squads, which will include one Right To Match (RTM) card at the auction which will cost Rs 75 crore out of an enhanced team purse of Rs 120 crore, the Indian Premier League governing council decided on Saturday. 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 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 retentions, they will again have to pay Rs 18 crore and Rs 14 crore respectively. So any franchise opts for all five retentions, then will have only Rs 45 crore to buy or even use their Right To Match (RTM) card to buy another 15 players and prepare a squad. There is no cap on Indian and Overseas retentions," 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 retentions four and five to ensure level playing field. You can go ahead and retain five but then you will have less than Rs 50 crore to deal with at auction table. Also if franchises opt for only three retentions, then more star value will be added to auction," the source said.