The details of the retention policy for the IPL 2025 mega auction were revealed on Saturday (September 28) ahead of the official announcement by the governing body of the Indian Premier League (IPL). According to Sports Tak, each franchise will be allowed to retain 5 players and will be granted one Right to Match (RTM).
The IPL franchises will also be awarded a purse of INR 120 crores, the highest in the history of the tournament. There will also be no limit on how many Indian or foreign players can be retained. Also, if a team keeps only three players, they will be given three RTM cards for auction.
Of the INR 120 crore purse, INR 75 crore will be used if a team retains all 5 players. In this case, the 1st hold would be INR 18 crore and the second would be INR 14 crore. The third hold will be INR 11 crore and the 4th will again be INR 18 crore. The last and 5th hold will be INR 14 crore.
The increase in price money for the 4th and 5th hold is to attract more players to the auction table. The increased cost for the last two saves is why most teams will avoid it and depend on the RTM Card.
A breakdown of the retention plate for IPL 2025
Here is the holding plate breakdown for IPL 2025:
1st hold: Rs. 18cr
2nd hold: Rs. 14cr
3rd hold: Rs. 11cr
4th hold: Rs. 18cr
5th hold: Rs. 14cr
With the retention policy for IPL 2025, 5 retentions and 1 right-of-play card are allowed, which is now the highest number of retentions teams will be allowed in the history of the tournament. In 2018, franchises were allowed to hold 3 along with two RTM cards. But ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction, the right-to-match option was scrapped as teams were allowed to retain 4 players.
When the IPL 2025 auction purse rises to Rs 120 crore, there is an increase of INR 30 crore. In the last mega auction, BCCI allowed a purse of INR 90 crore, an increase of 10 crore from 2017. A surge in wallet may see some record-breaking offers this time around as well.
In addition, the IPL Governing Council also took a sweeping decision. They introduced the match fees for the players to be paid by the franchises. Every player, both Indian and abroadIn IPL 2025, he will get a match fee of INR 7.5 lakh apart from his salary.
The decision was announced by Jay Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He posted on his Twitter account, “A cricketer who plays all the league games in a season will earn Rs 1.05 crore in addition to the contract amount.”
However, the IPL Governing Council has not mentioned the date of the IPL 2025 auction. However, the event is expected to be held in late November, possibly outside India, possibly in Saudi Arabia.
