The long-awaited day has arrived. All ten IPL teams must submit their lists of retained players before the IPL 2025 Mega Auction later this year.

Understanding the Retention Process

Teams can keep some of their favorite players from the last season. Each team can retain up to six players before the October 31 deadline or during the Mega Auction.

What is the Right to Match (RTM)?

The Right to Match (RTM) allows teams to buy back players during the auction. If a team does not announce retained players before the deadline, it will have six RTMs available at the auction. If a team retains players in advance, the number of RTMs will decrease based on how many players they keep.

Player Retention Limits

Each IPL team can retain a total of six players from its 2024 squad. Out of these six, a maximum of five can be capped players, which includes both Indian and overseas players. Additionally, teams can keep up to two uncapped Indian players.

Defining Uncapped Players

An uncapped player has not yet made an international debut in any format. This category also includes former Indian international players who have not played for the national team in over five years and do not hold a central contract with the BCCI.

Budget for Each Team

For IPL 2025, each team’s auction budget, or purse, is set at INR 120 Crore. This amount is higher than last year’s budget of INR 110 Crore. The total salary cap includes the auction purse, performance bonuses, and match fees.

Costs of Retaining Players

Teams incur specific costs for retaining capped players:

1st Capped Player Retention: ₹18 crore
2nd Capped Player Retention: ₹14 crore
3rd Capped Player Retention: ₹11 crore
4th Capped Player Retention: ₹18 crore
5th Capped Player Retention: ₹14 crore

For each uncapped Indian player retained, a team will lose INR 4 crore from its budget. There is no cap on how many overseas players a team can retain.

Changes in the RTM Process

When a team bids on a player and the original franchise uses RTM to match that bid, the highest bidder gets one last chance to raise their bid. If they do, the player is awarded to the original team using RTM.

Also Read: IPL 2025 Mega Auction: What The New Player Retention Rules Mean For Teams

Retention Values and Budget Adjustments

If a team spends more than the set retention value for a player, that amount is deducted from its budget. For instance, if the third capped player is retained for INR 14 Crore (INR 4 Crore above the INR 11 Crore value), INR 14 Crore will be deducted. If a team pays less than the retention value, it will still incur the full retention amount as a deduction. For example, if the second capped player is retained for INR 12 Crore (INR 2 Crore below the INR 14 Crore value), INR 14 Crore will still be deducted from the budget.

Sharing Retention Costs

If a franchise retains five capped players, the total cost can be shared among them. For example, if retaining five capped players costs ₹75 Crore, the players can agree on how to divide this amount.