IPL 2025 Retention Guide: Player Limits, Auction Rules, Budgets, And RTM | Explained

The much-anticipated IPL retention deadline is finally here, as all 10 teams are set to submit their lists of retained players ahead of the 2025 IPL Mega Auction later this year.

Retention Process Overview for the IPL Mega Auction

Retention Process:

Under the Right to Match (RTM) mechanism, IPL teams are allowed to retain up to 6 key players from their previous squad for future seasons. This can be completed by the October 31 deadline or directly during the Mega Auction itself.

Understanding RTM:

The Right to Match (RTM) rule enables a franchise to reclaim their players during the auction. Teams that don’t announce retentions by the set deadline will enter the auction with 6 RTMs. If a team pre-selects players for retention, they’ll have (6 – number of retained players) RTMs available when the Mega Auction begins.

Player Retention Limits:

Each IPL team can retain six players from their 2024 squad, which can include up to five capped players, either international or Indian, and a maximum of two uncapped Indian players.

Defining an Uncapped Player:

An uncapped player is anyone who hasn’t debuted for their national side in any format. Additionally, former Indian players who haven’t represented the country in the past five years and lack a central BCCI contract qualify as uncapped.

Team Budgets and Auction Purse:

For IPL 2025, each franchise will have a budget of INR 120 Crore, up from last season’s INR 110 Crore. This includes the auction purse, performance bonuses, and match fees.

Retention Costs:

The costs for retaining capped players are as follows:

– 1st Capped Player: ₹18 crore

– 2nd Capped Player: ₹14 crore

– 3rd Capped Player: ₹11 crore

– 4th Capped Player: ₹18 crore

– 5th Capped Player: ₹14 crore

– Uncapped Indian Player: ₹4 crore each

Teams can retain any number of overseas players without restrictions.

Updates in the RTM Process:

After a team bids on a player and their previous franchise uses RTM, the original highest bidder is given a final chance to raise their bid before the player is awarded to the team with the RTM.

Handling Deviations in Retention Costs:

If a team retains a player for more than the set retention amount (e.g., paying 14 Crore for Capped Player 3 instead of the base 11 Crore), then the full 14 Crore is deducted from the team’s budget. Conversely, if a player is retained for less than their set cost, the higher retention amount will still be deducted.

Equal Distribution of Retention Budget:

Teams retaining multiple capped players can distribute the retention budget across players in varying amounts, provided all retained players consent.

Retention Deadline:

All 10 franchises must submit their IPL 2025 retained player lists by 5 PM IST on October 31, Thursday.