IPL 2025 Mega Auction: Teams To Be Allowed 5 Retentions & 1 Right To Match Card - Report

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Teams to be reportedly allowed up to five retentions and the option to use 1 Right To Match card during the IPL 2025 Mega Auction, scheduled to be held later this year either in November or December.

According to a report on ESPN Cricinfo, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will let all tens teams retain five players and will also bring back the Right To Match (RTM) card, allowing teams to exercise the option for one player.

The report also added that there is still no clarity on how many Indian players will be allowed to be retained among the five retentions. In the earlier editions, no more than 3 Indian players were allowed to be retained by the teams.

While the official announcement on IPL retention rules is still awaited as the IPL governing council meet in Bengaluru this weekend, the report also added that the purse could swell to Rs 110-120 Crore.

What is RTM card?

The RTM option allows the franchise the ability to buy back the player from the 2024 edition during the auction by matching the highest bid made for the player by another franchise, once the bidding is over.

RTM was scrapped ahead of the 2022 season, which saw two new teams join the lucrative league to make it a ten-team tournament. The eight existing teams were allowed to retain a maximum of four players each, while Gujrat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants were given the option of selecting three players from the rest of the player pool before the auction.

If approved, the 5 plus 1 retention will be the most allowed ahead of a mega auction in the IPL history with the previous highest being five ahead of the IPL 2018 mega auction, which allowed a combination of up to three direct retentions or three RTM cards.

There is still no clarity on the slabs nor if there will there will be a cap on retained overseas players, and also the reported return of the uncapped rule for retired international cricketers.

Earlier reports suggested that the BCCI will allow only four retentions like the 2022 edition, but the latest reports hint that there could be an increase, giving boost to some franchises, who will want to retain their core of the squad.