BCCI has released a new retention policy before the IPL 2025 mega auction. Each franchise has been allowed to retain a maximum of six players, including at least one uncapped player. This also gives the franchises an opportunity to land an uncapped player in the retention price bracket, with the added benefit of having another domestic player. The purse amount for this season’s mega auction has been fixed at Rs 120 crore.

IPL 2025: Know the answers to 7 big questions related to the new retention policy-

1. What is the retention policy of IPL 2025?

According to the new policy, each team can retain a maximum of six players. Which may include 5 capped (Indian or foreign) and 2 uncapped players.

2. How does retention affect a team’s auction purse?

A franchise will lose Rs 75 crore out of its purse of Rs 120 crore due to just five retained players. The price slabs of the first three retained players before the mega auction are Rs 18 crore, Rs 14 crore and Rs 11 crore. The price for the fourth and fifth retention has been fixed at Rs 18 crore and Rs 14 crore respectively. If a team wants to retain any uncapped player in addition to the five capped retentions, it will have to incur a loss of Rs 4 crore per player.

3. Will retention limit the number of star players in the auction pool?

IPL 2025, the new retention policy will definitely provide ample opportunities to young talent, as some big names will opt out of the competition. Players like Mayank Dagar could move up in the auction table, as other spinners like Ravi Bishnoi and Mayank Markande are more likely to remain with their respective teams.

4. Does retention impact team balance and auction strategy?

Franchises expressed concern that the outdated retention policy was resulting in talent being lost and players they promoted were forced out due to regulatory constraints.

5. What is RTM and how will it impact IPL franchises?

The RTM or Right to Match option can be used by a team when their released player is on the auction table. This can be used when there are two or more options for a particular department and teams are confident that their player will not receive a higher bid on the table. If a team retains four players, they can use two RTMs. If they want to retain six players, they do not have the option of using RTM. With a maximum limit of six players in the retention policy, the remainder will be allowed as RTM option for the respective teams if less than six.

6. What does ‘uncapped players’ mean for the IPL 2025 auction?

An uncapped player will mean someone who has not been included in India’s playing XI in any international match for five years before the 2025 season, or has not held a BCCI central contract in the last five years before the current season.

7. How does retention shape auction strategy?

Teams will field with half their playing eleven. Fans may not be able to see Mitchell Starc’s record auction price. Teams will be half-formed, with the criteria being to meet the minimum limit of 18 players in the squad. RTMs can play a big role as the other half of every team’s playing XI is open to teams who need a star player in their kitty.