IPL 2025: New Retention Rules And Auction Structure Unveiled

IPL 2025: The IPL governing council officially announced significant updates for the upcoming 2025 season of the Indian Premier League on Saturday, 27th September.

For the upcoming mega auction, the auction purse has been increased to INR 120 crore (around US$ 14.33 million), up by INR 20 crore from last year. Franchises can retain up to six players, with the RTM option reinstated, while the Impact Player rule will continue.

“Following a constructive dialogue with the owners of the 10 franchises in July at the BCCI Headquarters, the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council (GC) met in Bengaluru today to decide the TATA IPL Player Regulations 2025-2027,” the BCCI said in a release.

Here are the key decisions from the IPL Governing Council meeting in simpler terms:

1. Player Retention: Each of the 10 IPL franchises can now keep up to 6 players from their current squad using either retention or the Right to Match (RTM) option.

2. Retention Choices: Franchises can decide how to allocate their 6 retentions/RTMs, with a maximum of 5 capped players (Indian and overseas) and 2 uncapped players.

Breakdown of the retention slab for IPL 2025.

Here’s the breakdown of the retention slab for IPL 2025:

1st retention: Rs. 18cr
2nd retention: Rs. 14cr
3rd retention: Rs. 11cr
4th retention: Rs. 18cr
5th retention: Rs. 14cr

3. Auction Purse: The IPL 2025 auction purse has increased to INR 120 crore, a rise of INR 30 crore from the last mega auction’s INR 90 crore. This increase may lead to record-breaking bids during the IPL 2025 auction.

4. Match Fees: In a significant move, the IPL Governing Council introduced match fees, with each player—both Indian and overseas—earning INR 7.5 lakh per match in addition to their salary. BCCI secretary Jay Shah tweeted:

“In a historic move to celebrate consistency and champion outstanding performances in the #IPL, we are thrilled to introduce a match fee of INR 7.5 lakhs per game for our cricketers! A cricketer playing all league matches in a season will get Rs. 1.05 crores in addition to his contracted amount.

Each franchise will allocate INR 12.60 crores as match fees for the season! This is a new era for the #IPL and our players!”

In a historic move to celebrate consistency and champion outstanding performances in the #IPL, we are thrilled to introduce a match fee of INR 7.5 lakhs per game for our cricketers! A cricketer playing all league matches in a season will get Rs. 1.05 crores in addition to his…

— Jay Shah (@JayShah) September 28, 2024

5. Overseas Player Registration: Overseas players must register for the Big Auction. If they don’t register, they can’t participate in the next year’s auction.

6. Player Availability: If a player who has been auctioned becomes unavailable before the season starts, they will be banned from playing in the tournament and next auction for 2 seasons.

7. Capped to Uncapped: An Indian player will be considered uncapped if they haven’t played in the starting XI for international matches (Test, ODI, T20) in the last 5 years or don’t have a BCCI Central Contract.

8. Impact Player Regulation: The rule will continue from 2025 to 2027.

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