IPL governing council announces new rules; MS Dhoni can be retained by CSK as uncapped player, teams can retain six players each, each player to receive match fees and more

Hyderabad: The Indian Premier League (IPL) governing council announced a slew of rule changes and important decisions over the weekend that included rules on how many players can be retained, impact player rule, rules for the mega auction and more.

Auction purse:

The auction purse for each franchise has been increased to INR 120 crore from the existing INR 100 crore.

Player retention:

The IPL governing council, after a meeting with all the team owners, have ruled that the IPL franchises can now retain up to six players each for the 2025 season. The players can be retained via a combination of retention or a Right to Match (RTM) option.

However, the six retention/RTMs can have a maximum of five capped players (both Indian and overseas players included) and a maximum of two uncapped Indian players.

The retention slabs are:

• For the first three capped player retentions: INR 18 crore, INR 14 crore and INR 11 crore
• For the next two capped player retentions: INR 18 crore and INR 14 crore
• For uncapped players: INR 4 crore

Furthermore, the IPL governing council has brought back an old rule with respect to uncapped players. The rule was previously scrapped in 2021 but now brought back from the 2025 season onwards. It says: “A capped Indian player will become uncapped if he has, in the five calendar years preceding the year in which the relevant season is held, not played in the starting XI in international cricket and does not have a central contract with BCCI. This will be applicable for Indian players only.”

The biggest beneficiary of this rule could be Chennai Super Kings’ Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who only plays the IPL and not international cricket. If CSK wants to retain MS Dhoni, they can use this rule and retain the former Indian captain at a purse of INR 4 crore.

Furthermore, the last date for the teams to retain players ahead of the 2025 season is October 31, 2024.

Right to Match (RTM) option:

The RTM option was used in the mega player auction in 2017 but was scrapped ahead of the player auction in 2022. The RTM option gives a franchise a chance to buy back a player during the auction by matching the highest bid made for the player by another franchise.

However, the IPL governing council has made a small change to the rule wherein now the highest bidder for a player will be given another chance to raise their bid before the team holding the RTM card can exercise their right. If the team doesn’t want to raise their bid, the other franchise can acquire the services of the player.

Impact player rule:

The governing council has decided that the Impact Player rule will continue for the next three seasons – up to 2027. The rule allows a team to sub a player in the first playing XI for another player – depending on the match situation.

After the introduction of the Impact Player rule, nine out of the ten highest team totals have been recorded in IPL history.

Many players, including Indian captain Rohit Sharma, were against the rule as they feel it diminishes the role and advent of all-rounders in the game. However, with no major opposition, the governing council has retained the rule.

Injury replacements and player loans:

Franchises can now seek a replacement for an injured player till the 12th match of the league phase from the earlier rule of the seventh match.

Franchises can now also loan players to another franchise during the season, just like how the rule plays out in football. However, this player loan rule has never been used by any franchise till date.

Overseas players pulling out after registering for auction:

Foreign players who make themselves unavailable, without legitimate reasons, after being bought in an auction will face two-year bans. The only exception is that if a player is injured or has any medical condition that prevents him from playing and that the players’ home board will have to confirm the same officially.

Price of overseas players in mini auction:

An overseas player will be allowed to register for the mini auction only if he has participated in the preceding mega auction. The overseas players’ maximum price in a mini auction will be the what is lower of the – highest retention price (INR 18 crore) and the highest auction price at the mega auction.

However, the auction for the player will go on as usual and the final auction amount will be charged to the auction purse. The franchise will then deposit the incremental amount (over the highest retention price and the highest price at mega auction) to the BCCI and the board will utilise the money for players’ welfare.

Match fee in IPL:

The BCCI has now also introduced a match fee for players in the IPL. Each player will now get INR 7.5 lakh as match fee, apart from their player contract money.