How new salary cap on overseas players stop them from executing a loot at IPL mini-auctions?

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Mitchell Starc will not get Rs 24.75 crore from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) even if he is retained for the IPL 2025. Same is the case with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain Pat Cummins, who was bought for Rs 20.50 crore in IPL 2023 auction.

The new players regulation policy framed by the IPL has put a salary cap on overseas stars, who have been often accused of skipping the mega auction to enrol for the mini-auction and fetch a huge amount of money.

The top six costliest players in IPL auction history are all foreigners. Starc and Cummins - the two costliest player in IPL history - put their name in the IPL mini-auction last year.

As per the new rules ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, an overseas player not participating in the mega auction will be forced to miss the following mini-auction next year. Overseas players had found a loophole and used the demand and supply imbalance smartly to their benefit.

Notably, Starc and Cummins both entered the mini-auction last year, and inflicted a bidding war between the 10 teams in the absence of other quality options.

Not only this, overseas players will certainly not be able to get a contract of more than Rs 18 crore. Putting a cap on the pay of overseas stars, the IPL Governing Council has proposed that a foreign player will either get the highest retention price of Rs 18 crore, or the highest auction price for a player at the mega option, whichever is lower.

For example, if Ruturaj Gaikwad is retained by CSK in the top bracket for Rs 18 crore, and Rohit Sharma is bought by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for Rs 15 crore, an overseas player will not be paid more than Rs 15 crore in the IPL 2026 mini-auction. If Rohit is bought for Rs 20 crore in the auction, the overseas player will get his maximum permitted pay of Rs 18 crore.

However, the new regulations allow the bidding for an overseas player to continue till he's eventually sold to a franchise and the final amount will be deducted from the purse of the team who won the bid. However, the amount over the permitted limit will go to the BCCI and utilised for the welfare of players.