IPL 2025 squad strategies and plans are being laid out as we await another thrilling edition of Indian Premier League.

What is RTM (Right to Match) Card and How does it Work? 

In IPL Auction, teams have a special card called a “Right to Match” (RTM) card, which lets them buy back players. 

1. What is an RTM Card?
   It is simply a right that a team can exercise to get a player back if someone else is about to win them in the auction. They teams usually try to get players back at a lower price with an RTM. 
2. How Many RTMs Does Each Team Get?
   The number of RTM cards a team has depends on how many players they’ve already kept on their team before the auction. Before retention, every team starts with six possible RTMs. For each player a team retains ahead of auction, they lose one RTM. Example, if a team retains two players, they’ll have three RTM cards to exercise at Mega Auction.
3. How Does an RTM Card Work?
   During the auction, if another team is about to buy one of their old players, the original team can use an RTM to match the highest bid and get the player back. For the IPL 2025 edition, there is a slight twist. The highest-bidding team now gets one more chance to increase their offer. If they do, the original team can decide if they still want the player for that price.

Now that all eyes are on IPL 2025 Mega Auction and RTM strategy of teams, let’s get straight to it.

Chennai Super Kings RTM Options

CSK have always backed their players to the hilt. IPL 2025 Retentions was another instance where they did all they could! Their final retentions are Ruturaj Gaikwad (INR 18 crore), Matheesha Pathirana (INR 13 crore), Shivam Dube (INR 12 crore), Ravindra Jadeja (INR 18 crore) and MS Dhoni (INR 4 crore).

With 5 retained players, CSK can exercise 1 available RTM option on one of Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur or Tushar Deshpande depending on the budget.

Purse remaining: INR 55 crore

Delhi Capitals RTM Options

Delhi Capitals let go of their superstar captain Rishabh Pant ahead of 2025 IPL Mega Auction. Among the 4 players retained by DC are Axar Patel (INR 16.50 crore), Kuldeep Yadav (INR 13.25 crore), Tristan Stubbs (INR 10 crore) and Abishek Porel (INR 4 crore).

Now they have 2 RTM options available (one uncapped player and one capped player, or two capped players) and can exercise the same on any two of Mitchell Marsh, Khaleel Ahmed, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mukesh Kumar, Anrich Nortje and Lalit Yadav.

Purse remaining: INR 73 crore

Gujarat Titans RTM Options

Gujarat Titans have retained Rashid Khan (INR 18 crore), Shubman Gill (INR 16.50 crore), Sai Sudharsan (INR 8.50 crore), Rahul Tewatia (INR 4 crore) and Shahrukh Khan (INR 4 crore). GT still have an option of one capped player at the mega auction.

It won’t be a surprise if they opt for David Miller, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, Vijay Shankar and Azmatullah Omarzai using RTM.

Purse remaining: INR 69 crore

Kolkata Knight Riders RTM Options

KKR is one of the teams who have used complete quota in IPL retentions. The 6 players retained by KKR are Rinku Singh (INR 13 crore), Varun Chakravarthy (INR 12 crore), Sunil Narine (INR 12 crore), Andre Russell (INR 12 crore), Harshit Rana (INR 4 crore) and Ramandeep Singh (INR 4 crore).

They don’t have any RTM option left to use.

Purse remaining: INR 51 crore

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Lucknow Super Giants RTM Options

Lucknow Super Giants let go of captain KL Rahul after 4 years. The five players retained by the franchise are Nicholas Pooran (INR 21 crore), Ravi Bishnoi (INR 11 crore) Mayank Yadav (INR 11 crore), Mohsin Khan (INR 4 crore), Ayush Badoni (INR 4 crore).

LSG are eligible to use one capped player RTM option at IPL 2025 auction. The probables include Marcus Stoinis, Quinton de Kock and Krunal Pandya.

Purse remaining: INR 69 crore

Rajasthan Royals RTM options

RR is another team who have used complete quota in player retentions ahead of Mega IPL Auction. Their 6 players retained include Sanju Samson (INR 18 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (INR 18 crore), Riyan Parag (INR 14 crore), Dhruv Jurel (INR 14 crore), Shimron Hetmyer (INR 11 crore) and Sandeep Sharma (INR 4 crore).

Rajasthan Royals don’t have any RTM option at 2025 IPL auction.

Purse remaining: INR 41 crore

Sunrisers Hyderabad RTM options

Sunrisers Hyderabad have announced 5 players retentions – Heinrich Klaasen (INR 23 crore), Pat Cummins (INR 18 crore), Abhishek Sharma (INR 14 crore), Travis Head (INR 14 crore) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (INR 6 crore).

Now they are left with only one uncapped player RTM option at auction. And, the options for the same are Abdul Samad, Anmolpreet Singh and Upendra Singh Yadav.

Purse remaining: INR 45 crore

Mumbai Indians RTM Options

Mumbai Indians have managed to retain their core squad, in Jasprit Bumrah (INR 18 crore), Suryakumar Yadav (INR 16.35 crore), Hardik Pandya (INR 16.35 crore), Rohit Sharma (INR 16.30 crore) and Tilak Varma (INR 8 crore).

At the 2025 IPL Auction, they have an option of one uncapped player RTM. One of the uncapped players in Harvik Desai, Vishnu Vinod, Arjun Tendulkar, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Anshul Kamboj, Naman Dhir and Shivalik Sharma can be bought back by MI using RTM.

Purse remaining: INR 45 crore (out of INR 120 crore)

Punjab Kings RTM Options

Punjab Kings are doing an overhaul! They have plenty of options with the biggest IPL 2025 Auction purse. Their 2 retentions are Shashank Singh (INR 5.5 crore) and Prabhsimran Singh (INR 4 crore).

PBKS have an option to use RTM on four capped players. Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Sam Curran, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma can be the players going back to PBKS.

Purse remaining: INR 110.5 crore

Royal Challengers Bengaluru RTM Options

RCB have made three retentions ahead of the Mega IPL Auction. Virat Kohli (INR 21 crore), Rajat Patidar (INR 11 crore) and Yash Dayal (INR 5 crore) have been retained.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru have three RTM cards available – one uncapped player and two capped players, or three capped players. In Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Faf du Plessis, Cameron Green, Anuj Rawat, Suyash S Prabhudessai, Will Jacks*, Saurav Chauhan, Swapnil Singh, Mahipal Lomror and Karn Sharma, there are plethora of choices before RCB.

Purse remaining: INR 83 crore