NEW DELHI: The highly anticipated IPL retention rules were released on Saturday night, allowing all ten franchises to retain a total of six players. This can be done through direct retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) option.
“It is at the discretion of the IPL franchise to choose their combination for Retentions and RTMs. The 6 retentions / RTM’s can have a maximum of 5 capped players (Indian & Overseas) and a maximum of 2 uncapped players,” IPL said in a release.
Retention Deadline
The deadline for franchises to complete and submit their final list of retained players is set for October 31, 2024, at 5 PM IST, Cricbuzz reported.
In terms of player retention, any player who represents their country in an international match before October 31 will be classified as a capped player.
However, if a player is retained as an uncapped player and subsequently makes their international debut prior to the auction day, they will still be considered uncapped for the purposes of the auction.
In such a scenario, the team’s auction purse will only be reduced by Rs 4 crore, which is the designated amount for retaining an uncapped player, despite the player’s recent international appearance.
Interestingly, the IPL GC has also come up with a rider which is a ‘pay more to retain more’ formula, wherein the price for the fourth and fifth retentions come at a higher cost. With each team having an increased auction purse of Rs 120 crore each, there will be a reduction of Rs 18 crore, 14 crore and 11 crore respectively for the first three retentions.
The subsequent fourth and fifth retentions will see the franchise purse getting lighter by Rs 18 crore and 14 crore. Effectively, five retentions will come at a cost of Rs 75 crore, leaving the franchise with Rs 45 crore to complete the line-up.
The price for the uncapped player has been pegged at Rs 4 crore, which further reduces a franchise’s purse. Also, for the subsequent seasons the purse has been increased to Rs 151 crore (2026) and Rs 157 crore (2027).