The Indian Premier League (IPL) will be readying itself for yet another mega auction in 2025. And one of the major point of contention is the number of player retentions.
Reports have stated that the BCCI has sought suggestions from the IPL franchises and there is a push to increase the number of retained players. According to sources, the board has invited all 10 franchise owners for a meeting in Ahmedabad next week.
"Things are at a very nascent stage. The board is seeking recommendations to carry the league forward. Player-retention is a major factor in that. Going by the informal discussions, majority of the franchises are in favour of having a provision where they can retain about eight players before the auction," a BCCI source told Times of India.
Notably, in the previous IPL mega auction in 2022, four players were allowed to be retained and one player could be bought back by using the 'right to match' (RTM) card. That offered the franchises a chance to retain a total of five players. A maximum of two overseas players could be retained.
However, the franchises feel that in order to maintain continuity in the composition of teams, there needs to be atleast least eight players retained by them. The franchises also want the BCCI to raise the cumulative salary cap to Rs 100 crore from the existing Rs 90 crore since the BCCI has bagged heftier media rights deals.
"Some feel that it doesn't make sense if the core of the team is broken so frequently. Franchises have identified that there should be scope to retain a larger part of the core team. There are a couple of objections to this suggestion. Nothing specific has been discussed about the RTM or cap on overseas retentions," the source said.
However, franchises like Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru struggled in the last mega auction, as per report. Capitals, who had built a strong core over the years, had to let go of many of their core players. Capitals had made the final in IPL 2020 and qualified for the playoffs on either side of the 2020 season.
"There will be some resistance because a few franchises will want a bigger pool of players in the auction to rebuild their teams. One must remember that there are 10 teams now and if the number of retentions is increased, then the 'cream pool' will become very small. The meeting on April 16 is likely to revolve around these talking points," the source said.
(Times of India inputs)
