The auction for the IPL 2025 season will take place later this year. It will be a grand auction and the BCCI is all set to discuss the player retention policy with the 10 franchise owners in a meeting at the end of this month.

The meeting is likely to take place at the BCCI headquarter in Mumbai on either 30 or 31 July. However, the dates are yet to be confirmed.

According to a report published in Cricbuzz, the BCCI has asked the owners to be available for the meeting. The main agenda will be player retention as the franchises have contrasting views on it.

The report stated that the older franchises have called for the number of retentions permitted to be extended to eight. The demand has been made in a bid to ensure continuity, fan engagement and brand building. On the other hand, some teams are in favour of minimal retentions.

It has also been learned that the franchises are at loggerheads with each other over the Right to Match (RTM) cards, which 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.

As per the report, the BCCI has asked for the opinions of the franchises over key issues and is expected to take the final call in the meeting later this month.

The franchises shall also discuss the salary cap which is likely to be around Rs 120 crore in the first year of the upcoming three-year cycle. In that case, discussions around the salaries of the retained player will also be the center of attention.

The payout for top retentions was reportedly around 16-17 percent of the salary and if that principle is followed, the top retained players shall receive around Rs 20 crore. However, this remains hypothetical at this stage, and the BCCI is expected to chalk out a plan to determine the salary of the retained players.

(With Cricbuzz Inputs)