NEW DELHI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking at the last week of November to host the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction and November 30 has emerged as the likely date. Nothing has been finalised on the date yet but the last week of the month has been identified as the ideal window. The discussions are underway on the venue and while many options are being discussed, there is a possibility of the Indian cricket board hosting it in Dubai.
The ten franchises are already in a huddle ahead of the mega auction and are in the final stages of sealing their retentions.IPL 2024 finalists Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are leading the way as they have already identified Heinrich Klaasen, Pat Cummins and Abhishek Sharma as their three priorities and Travis Head, Nitish Kumar Reddy are also in the scheme of things.
Delhi Capitals, too, have Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav as their top three picks but there is no clarity on captaincy yet. They have rejigged the support staff with Hemang Badani set to become the head coach and Venugopal Rao replacing Sourav Ganguly as Director of Cricket. Additionally, they have roped in Munaf Patel as the bowling coach and formal announcements are likely in the coming weeks.
Continuity remains as IPL giants Mumbai Indians, who were the clear winners in this new retention policy, are set to retain Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah. Pandya is slated to continue as the captain as the five-time winners, under coach Mahela Jayawardene, would look to return to winning ways after disappointing outings in the last cycle.

The upcoming mega auction promises to be a very exciting affair as the new rules will keep the franchises on their toes. The modified version of the Right To Match card, which is set to be extensively used by most teams, is likely to be the show-stopper.
What’s the new RTM
* The highest bidder will be given one final opportunity to raise their bid for a player before the team holding the RTM card can exercise their right
* For example, if Team 1 holds the RTM for Player X and Team 2 has placed the highest bid of Rs. 6 Cr, then Team 1 will be first asked if they will exercise RTM, if Team 1 agrees, then Team 2 will have the chance to increase their bid. If Team 2 raises their bid to Rs. 9 Cr, then Team 1 can use the RTM and acquire Player X for Rs. 9 Cr. If Team 2 chooses not to raise the bid and keeps it at Rs. 6 Cr, Team 1 can use the RTM and get Player X for Rs. 6 Cr.

DC co-owner Parth Jindal said that they were definitely retaining captain Rishabh Pant ahead of the Indian Premier League 2025 auctions. In an interview with news agency IANS, Jindal said that DC had multiple good players that they would like to retain, but the final list will be made after discussions with their Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly.

DC finished 6th in the previous season of the Indian Premier League. Despite not making it into the playoffs, the team had several top young performers, including Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs and Jake Fraser-McGurk.

Speaking to the media, Jindal hinted at the potential retentions, however stressed that apart from Rishabh Pant, none of the decisions were final.

“Yes, we definitely have to retain. We have some very good players in our team. The rules have just come out, so after discussing with GMR and our director of cricket, Sourav Ganguly, decisions will be made,” Parth Jindal told IANS in an interview.

“Rishabh Pant will definitely be retained. We also have Axar Patel, who is excellent, Tristan Stubbs, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Kuldeep Yadav, Abishek Porel, Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, all very good players in our team,” he further added on the matter of retentions.

IPL 2025 retention rules: Details

“We’ll see what happens in the auction. But first, as per the rule, we can retain six players. After discussions, we will proceed with the auction and see what happens,” Jindal concluded.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India made several rules prioritising Indian players. The rules are expected to help young Indian players fighting for a place in the playing XI of the IPL sides.

LATEST IPL RETENTION RULES

1. The IPL franchises can retain a total of 6 players from their existing squad. This can be either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) option.

2. It is at the discretion of the IPL franchise to choose their combination for Retentions and RTMs. The 6 retentions / RTM’s can have a maximum of 5 capped players (Indian & Overseas) and a maximum of 2 uncapped players.

3. The auction purse for the franchises has been set at INR 120 Crore for IPL 2025. The total salary cap will now consist of auction purse, incremental performance pay and match fees. Previously in 2024, the total salary cap (auction purse + incremental performance pay) was Rs. 110 Crs which will now be Rs. 146 Crs (2025), Rs. 151 Crs (2026) and Rs. 157 Crs (2027).

4. A match fee has been introduced for the first time in the history of IPL. Each Playing member (Including the Impact Player) will get a match fee of INR 7.5 Lakhs per match. This will be in addition to his contracted amount.

5. Any Overseas Player will have to register for the Big Auction. In case the overseas player doesn’t register, then he will be ineligible to register in the following year’s player auction.

6. Any player who registers in the player auction and after getting picked at the auction, makes himself unavailable before the start of the season, will get banned from participating in the tournament and player auction for 2 Seasons.

7. A capped Indian player will become uncapped, if the player has in the last five calendar years preceding the year in which the relevant Season is held, not played in the starting XI in International Cricket (Test match, ODI, Twenty20 International) or does not have a Central Contract with BCCI. This will be applicable for Indian Players only.

8. The Impact Player Regulation will continue for the 2025 to 2027 cycle.

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