According to various sources and reports, a change in the retention rules could lead to a wave of top Indian cricketers entering the IPL’s major player auction, which is expected to take place in Saudi Arabia next month.
It is confirmed that the IPL authorities have shifted from the previous approach of deducting the “lesser amount” when a player’s retention price surpasses the designated price for that slot.
This change of rule can be vital as it can hamper the strategies set by various IPL franchises to keep their crucial players associated to them.
According to the rule, if the retention amount is equal to or exceeds the designated price, the “higher of the two” amounts will be deducted from the team’s auction purse.
For instance, the highest price band for player retention ahead of the 2022 auction was Rs. 15 crore. MS Dhoni and KL Rahul were retained by their respective franchises for Rs. 17 crore and Rs. 16 crore, respectively. However, since the cap for the top player was set at Rs. 15 crore, only Rs. 15 crore was deducted from Chennai Super Kings’ and Lucknow Super Giants’ auction purse.
Fast forward to the 2025 retention, Sunrisers Hyderabad are expected to retain Heinrich Klaasen (Rs. 23 crore), Pat Cummins (Rs. 18 crore), and Abhishek Sharma (Rs. 14 crore).
If this occurs, despite the combined designated cap for the top three retentions being Rs. 43 crore (Rs. 18 crore, Rs. 14 crore, and Rs. 11 crore), Rs. 55 crore will be deducted from SRH’s auction purse of Rs. 120 crore.
This rule change could lead to several top Indian cricketers, such as Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and Ishan Kishan, entering the auction pool. With the updated retention policy, teams might be more selective in retaining players, resulting in a number of high-profile names becoming available in the upcoming IPL auction.
