IPL teams likely to be allowed to retain five players, no Right to Match option at mega auction: Report

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In what would come as a relief for some big franchises, BCCI has agreed to allow five retentions ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. However, the Right to Match (RTM) option will be absent once again in the upcoming option.

As per a report by The Indian Express, BCCI is likely to allow up to five retentions for each of the 10 teams in the cash-rich league. Teams such as Mumbai Indians (MI) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will benefit the most from it.

While Mumbai will have the option to retain their core players - Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Shharma, Kolkata will also be saved from making tough choices between Shreyas Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Rinku Singh.

The report revealed that most of the IPL teams requested the BCCI to allow five to six retentions. The same will allow them to safeguard their core team and brand image/value. The branding of Mumbai Indians has been linked to the presence of Bumrah, Rohit, and Surya. In the same manner, when one thinks of KKR, they definitely think about Russell and Narine.

Four players were allowed to be retained ahead of the IPL 2022 auction. Teams were asked not more than three Indian and two overseas stars. Information about any such guidelines is still unknown.

NO RTM Option in IPL 2025 Auction

The report by the newspaper has suggested that the Right To Match option will again be missing from the auction. It was last used in the IPL 2018 mega auction. The option allows a team to buy back a player, who represented them last season, by matching the highest bid made for them by any other team in the auction.

In this scenario, a franchise might not risk releasing a player it can't afford to lose. For Instance, if KKR plan to release Mitchell Starc into the auction to get him at a lower price, they will also have to take the risk of getting into a bidding war with another franchise.

Further, team owners have also requested the BCCI to have the mega auction not before four years. They reasoned that the time period will allow them to have more time with talents they have spotted and invested in.