Salary of a player signed for Rs 30-50 lakh could be increased up to a few crores.
Among some of the notable suggestions franchises shared with IPL officials during feedback sessions on player retentions ahead of the 2025 grand auction, one of them was salary increment scheme for top performers to prevent poaching.
According to a TOI report, the salary of a player, signed for say just Rs 30-50 lakh at the IPL mega auction later this year, could be increased perhaps to a few crores if that player performs exceptionally well in IPL 2025.
"The current system doesn't allow for a player's salary to be increased by a franchise once he's bought in the IPL auction. Like most jobs, there's no provision of increment. Suppose he's bought for Rs 30 lakh and has an outstanding IPL, the franchise should have the option of offering him, say a Rs 3 crore fresh contract for the next year, rather than lose him to some other team. This will prevent poaching by other teams.
"The IPL needs to allow franchises to renegotiate the salary of a high-performing player. It will allow a team the option to retain its best players of the previous season without the worry that they would ask to be released or traded by other teams. The players would be happy about the handsome increment, while the franchises will be pleased to avoid poaching," TOI quoted a franchise official as saying.
As per the report, the other suggestions franchises have put forward are: Conduct a mega auction only once in five years, allow teams to retain five players at the most, give each franchise as many as eight right to-match (RTM) options, and increase the salary purse to around Rs 130-140 crores.
The next steps will be discussed when IPL officials meet the franchises by the end of this month at the revamped BCCI office at Wankhede Stadium.
Explaining the rationale behind the proposal of having a mega auction after every five years, a franchise official told TOI: "In order to ensure continuity, it makes sense to have a player auction every five years, instead of three. A longer gap between mega auctions would help teams get the best out of the players that they have invested in when they were youngsters.
"It will enable us, especially those who have academies at the grassroots level, to invest in player development. For example, a young Indian player takes a couple of years to develop, and then after three years, you lose that player suddenly in the mega auction. That's just not fair."
Earlier, it was reported that some franchises want as many as eight retentions but the final figure could be much lesser. "Expect not more than five player retentions," a source tracking the developments told TOI.
It would be interesting to see if the RTM option is given to the IPL teams. RTM used to enable teams to match the highest bid for the player that played for them in the previous season and secure his services again.
In the 2018 mega-auction, a maximum of five players were allowed to retain by each team. Of the five, three players were retained before the auction, while up to three could be bought back by a team through the RTM option in the auction.
During the 2022 mega-auction, when Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants entered the IPL, the eight other teams were allowed to retain four players, but the RTM options were not used since the BCCI wanted GT and LSG to have a larger player pool to choose from.
As far as the salary cap is concerned, each team is set to witness a massive increase from Rs 90 crores to around Rs 130-140 crores.
"It has been pending for a while. The salary cap is likely to be increased from Rs 90 crores to Rs 130-140 crores. As per the media rights agreement in 2002, IPL 2025 & 26 will see 84 matches, while IPL 2027 will include 94 matches. It means more matches, with little gaps between them. The players are bound to ask for and expect more money," a source told TOI.
In addition, the discussions will also include the cricketing matters, especially the much-talked-about Impact Player rule. The indications are that the BCCI is likely to stick with the rule for at least one more year.