The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced that IPL franchises will be allowed to retain up to six players from their current squad, either through retention or by utilizing Right to Match (RTM) options. This decision comes ahead of the upcoming mega auction for the Indian Premier League.
In a significant development, the BCCI has granted permission for players like MS Dhoni to participate in the IPL as uncapped players. This ruling states that a capped Indian player will be considered uncapped if they have not featured in the starting XI for international matches in any format within the past five calendar years leading up to the relevant season, or if they do not hold a central contract with the BCCI. This change in eligibility criteria will particularly benefit players such as Dhoni, who retired from international cricket in 2020.
Furthermore, the BCCI has confirmed the continuation of the impact player rule for the IPL cycles spanning from 2025 to 2027.
Many IPL franchises had requested the BCCI to allow the retention of 5-6 players to enable them to establish their team's identity and maintain consistency in their squad.
“It is at the discretion of the IPL franchise to choose their combination for Retentions and RTMs. The six retentions / RTM’s can have a maximum of 5 capped players (Indian & Overseas) and a maximum of 2 uncapped players,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah informed in a statement after IPL general council met in Bengaluru on Saturday.
The Indian board has established the auction purse for franchises at 120 crore rupees for IPL 2025, marking a 20 crore increase from the previous auction.
“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 statement added.
In a recent decision, the board has implemented match fees of 7.5 lakhs for the first time in the history of the T20 IPL cricket league. Previously, franchises only paid auction money to players. This new development marks a significant change in the league's payment structure, providing players with additional compensation for their participation in matches.
The board has addressed concerns raised by franchises regarding foreign players choosing to opt out after the auction process.
“Any player who registers in the player auction and after getting picked at the auction, makes himself unavailable before the start of the season, will get banned from participating in the tournament and player auction for 2 Seasons,” the statement reads.
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