An increase in player retention for IPL 2025 Mega Auction will be the main agenda in the franchise meeting on 16th April. All 10 teams have been invited to discuss. There is a high chance that a decision will be taken in increasing the number of player retention to 8 players. Teams are keen to keep their core setup fixed and not making too many random changes to the same.
Back in the IPL 2022 Mega Auction, teams had the option to retain a maximum of 4 players. But that is likely to change heading into next year’s IPL.
“Things are at a very nascent stage. The board is seeking recommendations to carry the league forward. Player-retention is a major factor in that. Going by the informal discussions, majority of the franchises are in favour of having a provision where they can retain about eight players before the auction,” a BCCI source told The Times of India.
Teams favouring 8 player retentions for IPL 2025 Mega Auction
There will also be talks on the re-introduction of the Right To Match (RTM) for the upcoming mega auction. But teams are desperate to retain their core setup after having spent a huge amount of money in the past 3 auctions.
“Some feel that it doesn’t make sense if the core of the team is broken so frequently. Franchises have identified that there should be a scope to retain the larger part of the core team. There are a couple of objections to this suggestion. Nothing specific has been discussed about the RTM or cap on overseas retentions,” the source added.
Check Out Our Latest Cricket Stories Here –
While there is a push for increasing the number of retained player, there are however few teams who are likely to object to the idea. Teams who have suffered in building a strong team over the past years will be eyeing for a bigger pool of players. They naturally won’t be in favour of agreeing to 8 player retention rule.
“There will be some resistance because a few franchises will want a bigger pool of players in the auction to rebuild their teams. One must remember that there are 10 teams now and if the number of retentions is increased, then the ‘cream pool’ will become very small. The meeting on April 16 is likely to revolve around these talking points,” the source concluded.