In IPL 2025, all the teams will be permitted to retain up to six players ahead of the mega auction. During a meeting in Bengaluru on Saturday, the IPL General Council (GC) members decided that out of the six retentions, one must be an uncapped player.
As per the official IPL GC release, at least one of the six retained players has to be uncapped, while the remaining five can either be Indian or overseas players. A team can retain six players either through direct retention or a combination of retention and RTM (Right to Match) options.
If a team opts to retain five players, the first three retentions will deduct Rs 18 crore, Rs 14 crore, and Rs 11 crore, respectively, from the total purse of Rs 120 crore, which is Rs 20 crore more than last year’s auction.
For the last two picks, the franchises will lose Rs 18 crore and Rs 14 crore. Therefore, a team will enter the auction with Rs 45 crore if they decide to retain five players.
Additionally, each franchise can retain a maximum of two uncapped players. According to the BCCI release on ESPNcricinfo, the IPL GC has maintained a salary cap of Rs 4 crore for an uncapped player.
“The IPL has decided to bring back a rule it first introduced in 2008, allowing Indian players who have retired from international cricket for at least five years to enter the auction as an uncapped player. Although the rule was never used and was scrapped in 2021, the IPL has informed franchises that it is reviving the rule,” a report highlighted.
In this scenario, five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) could retain franchise legend MS Dhoni as an uncapped player, should they choose to.
Dhoni, CSK’s second pick in the 2022 IPL mega auction for Rs 12 crore, turned 43 in July and has only played in the IPL since his international retirement in August 2020. However, Dhoni has remained tight-lipped about his future in the game.
