How many players can a franchise retain? Answers to this and all other frequently asked questions

IPL 2025 Retention: The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 player retention deadline is approaching, with less than 24 hours left before all ten IPL teams have to submit a list of players they want to retain ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. The IPL Governing Council has set a deadline for announcing player retentions – October 31st at 5:00 pm EST. Teams must complete their list of remaining players by this time to be eligible to participate in the mega auction.

With less than 24 hours left until the player retention announcement deadline, here’s everything you need to know about player retention in IPL 2025, along with answers to frequently asked questions.

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When will player retention be announced for IPL 2025?

IPL teams must submit their retention lists by 5:00 pm IST on October 31 (Thursday). Jio Cinema will provide live streaming of hold announcements at 4:30 pm IST.

How many players can an IPL franchise retain?

Franchises can retain up to six players from their squad for 2024, with a maximum of five being capped players (from India or overseas) and two from India as uncapped players. Six is ​​the maximum storage limit allowed by the IPL ahead of the mega auction, allowing franchises to retain their core team.

Notably, players also have the option to decline the retention offer if they do not wish to remain with the franchise.

What wallet is available to the franchise and how much will they allocate for retention?

Each IPL team’s budget for the auction is ₹120 crore, up 20 percent from the previous year. The base cost of retaining a player without cap is Rs 4 crore. For capped international players, the retention costs are ₹18 crore for the first player, ₹14 crore for the second, ₹11 crore for the third, ₹8 crore for the fourth and ₹6 crore for the fifth.

Therefore, if the team retains five international players, they will spend at least ₹75 crore out of their total budget of ₹120 crore.

Can INR 75 crore be divided among the five remaining players as desired by the franchise?

Yes, teams can at their discretion distribute the retained amount of ₹75 crore among the five cap players. If a franchise spends more than ₹75 crore to retain five cap players, the excess amount will be deducted from their total purse. Retaining one capped player will cost a minimum of ₹18 crore, two at a minimum of ₹32 crore, three at a minimum of ₹43 crore and four at a minimum of ₹61 crore.

What is the new rule for unrestricted players for retired Indians?

The BCCI has reintroduced a rule that allows Indian players who have not played international cricket for five years before the current season to be designated as ‘uncapped players’ in the IPL auction. This rule was first established in the first season in 2008, but has been removed in 2021.

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What is the Right to Match (RTM) option and how does it work?

The RTM process allows a franchise to buy out a player by matching the highest bid made by the other team during the auction. However, unlike previous auctions, the winning franchise will have the opportunity to increase their bid once RTM is activated, requiring the player’s former team to match this new amount in order to retain the player.

During the IPL mega auction, teams with less than six players remaining can use RTM options to re-acquire players. For example, a team that retains three players will have three RTM options, while a team that retains none will have six options. If a team is left with five capped players, the remaining RTM option can only be used on an uncapped player, and if they keep two uncapped players, they cannot use RTM on another uncapped player.