Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, all teams are set to undergo a major overhaul as the mega-auction will be held later this year.
While the retention guidelines were released last month, the date and location for the grand auction is yet to be confirmed.
The BCCI and IPL governing council continue to explore options as far as the locations are concerned. As per a Cricbuzz report, Singapore is the latest contender to join this list.
They are also reportedly scouting locations in Saudi Arabia, with Riyadh and Jeddah having been pitched earlier this month.
Last year, the IPL auction was conducted outside India for the first time as Dubai hosted the event. London was also among the shortlisted venues for the auction but the BCCI dropped the plan considering the cold weather there in the month of November.
Singapore acts as the latest consideration for a city, and has advantages in terms of being the closest location to the Indian subcontinent and a similarly significant Indian expatriate presence in the nation.
Singapore will also provide the warmer climate that the IPL GC is looking for, and might be a strong contender for the logistical demands that the IPL auction imposes.
With this year being a mega-auction, set to take place in two days, the concerns for the IPL GC and the auction organisers will be to accommodate the entire IPL entourage, including the 10 franchise delegations and a large entourage involving two broadcasters - Jio and Disney Star.
Talking about the IPL retention rules, each of the 10 franchises can retain up to six cricketers, through the retention and Right To Match (RTM) option.
The auction purse for the franchises has been set at INR 120 crore. The first three retentions will see the auction purse being reduced by Rs 18 crore, Rs 14 crore and Rs 11 crore, respectively. However, the two other additional retentions will cost more than the third. The fourth and the fifth retentions will see a reduction of Rs 18 crore and Rs 14 crore, respectively.
It means a team will see its auction purse reduced by a whopping Rs 75 crore on five players, with only Rs 45 crore left in its kitty for the IPL auction.
