The upcoming mega IPL auction promises to be an event that will be remembered for years. The last mega auction in the IPL, held in 2022, marked significant changes for many franchises. For instance, it disrupted the Mumbai Indians’ core as Hardik Pandya departed for Gujarat Titans. Mega auctions always reshape the league, leaving teams with entirely new compositions. Some squads emerge weaker, while others transform into dominant forces. One thing is certain—teams never remain the same after these auctions.
Ahead of the auction, every team has devised a plan tailored to their needs. Some teams have exercised their retention rights to the maximum, while others, to some extent, opted for a clean slate. But the question remains: what are the rules around retention, and how many players has each team retained?
Rules Around Retentions Ahead of the IPL Auction
The retention rules for the mega IPL auction are relatively straightforward. Teams can retain a maximum of five capped players (Indian or overseas) and two uncapped players from their previous roster, making a total of up to seven retained players. Additionally, teams can use Right to Match (RTM) cards to retain players during the auction. For example, if the Delhi Capitals release Rishabh Pant, they can still retain him using an RTM card.
What Are RTM Cards?
RTM cards allow teams to match the highest bid for a player they previously released, effectively retaining that player. Each team has a maximum of six total retentions—direct retentions and RTM cards combined. For instance, if a team directly retains three players, it has three RTM cards left to use during the auction. However, the BCCI has introduced a new rule for RTM cards ahead of the IPL Auction 2025. According to this rule, when a team uses an RTM card to match the highest bid, the bidder is allowed one chance to increase their bid before the player is awarded to the original team using the RTM. This new mechanism adds another layer of strategy to the auction, ensuring a competitive bidding process.
What is the cost of retaining players?
Retaining players also comes with a significant cost. Each team must disclose the bracket in which they are placing the retained players. Capped players can be retained across five retention categories, depending on the agreement between the team and the player. Here’s a breakdown of the cost of retaining players.
| Retention Order | Cost |
| 1st Retention (Capped) | INR 18 Crore |
| 2nd Retention (Capped) | INR 14 Crore |
| 3rd Retention (Capped) | INR 11 Crore |
| 4th Retention (Capped) | INR 18 Crore |
| 5th Retention (Capped) | INR 14 Crore |
| Uncapped Player Retention | INR 4 Crore |
What is each team’s strategy ahead of IPL Auction?
The five-time IPL champions, Chennai Super Kings, retained MS Dhoni under the uncapped player category. According to the rules, any player who has not played international cricket in the last five years qualifies as uncapped. The franchise also retained the core of their team, including Matheesha Pathirana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, and Shivam Dube, ensuring stability and continuity.
The biggest shock from the retention announcements came from the Delhi Capitals. The franchise, for reasons unknown, chose not to retain superstar wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant. The Indian international will now enter the auction, but DC has the option to use the RTM card to re-sign him. However, this could come at a higher cost than retaining him directly. Instead, DC opted to retain Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, and Abishek Porel.
Additionally, Royal Challengers Bangalore retained Virat Kohli for INR 21 crore, while Lucknow Super Giants chose to release their captain, KL Rahul. Similarly, KKR opted not to retain their title-winning captain, Shreyas Iyer, who will now enter the auction pool.
Here, we break down each team’s strategy for the upcoming IPL auction.
| Teams | Retained Players | Remaining Purse |
| CSK | Ruturaj Gaikwad (Rs18 cr), Matheesha Pathirana ( Rs 13 cr), Shivam Dube ( Rs 12 cr), Ravindra Jadeja ( Rs 18 cr), MS Dhoni ( Rs 4 cr) | INR 55 Crore |
| DC | Axar Patel ( Rs 16.50 cr), Kuldeep Yadav ( Rs 13.25 cr), Tristan Stubbs ( Rs 10 cr), Abishek Porel ( Rs 4 cr) | INR 73 Crore |
| GT | Rashid Khan ( Rs 18 cr), Shubman Gill ( Rs 16.50 cr), Sai Sudharsan ( Rs 8.50 cr), Rahul Tewatia ( Rs 4 cr), Shahrukh Khan ( Rs 4 cr) | INR 69 Crore |
| KKR | Rinku Singh ( ₹13 crore), Varun Chakaravarthy ( ₹12 crore), Sunil Narine ( ₹12 crore), Andre Russell ( ₹12 crore), Harshit Rana ( ₹4 crore), Ramandeep Singh ( ₹4 crore). | INR 51 Crore |
| LSG | Nicholas Pooran ( Rs 21 cr), Ravi Bishnoi ( Rs 11 cr) Mayank Yadav ( Rs 11 cr), Mohsin Khan ( Rs 4 cr), Ayush Badoni ( Rs 4 cr) | INR 69 Crore |
| MI | Jasprit Bumrah (Rs18 cr), Suryakumar Yadav ( Rs 16.35 cr), Hardik Pandya ( Rs 16.35 cr), Rohit Sharma ( Rs 16.30 cr), Tilak Varma ( Rs 8 cr) | INR 45 Crore |
| PBKS | Shashank Singh ( Rs 5.5 cr), Prabhsimran Singh ( Rs 4 cr) | INR 110.5 Crore |
| RCB | Virat Kohli ( Rs 21 cr), Rajat Patidar ( Rs 11 cr), Yash Dayal (Rs 5 cr) | INR 83 Crore |
| RR | Sanju Samson ( Rs 18 cr), Yashasvi Jaiswal ( Rs 18 cr), Riyan Parag ( Rs 14 cr), Dhruv Jurel ( Rs 14 cr), Shimron Hetmyer ( Rs 11 cr), Sandeep Sharma ( Rs 4 cr), | INR 41 Crore |
| SRH | Heinrich Klaasen ( Rs 23 cr), Pat Cummins ( Rs 18 cr), Abhishek Sharma ( Rs 14 cr), Travis Head ( Rs 14 cr), Nitish Kumar Reddy ( Rs 6 cr) | INR 45 Crore |
Now, let’s take a look at how many RTM cards each team has ahead of the IPL Auction.
| Teams | RTM Option |
| CSK | 1 (either Capped or Uncapped) |
| DC | 2 (2 Capped or 1 Uncapped and 1 Capped ) |
| GT | 1 (Capped) |
| KKR | None |
| LSG | 1 (Capped) |
| MI | 1 (Uncapped) |
| PBKS | 4 (All Capped) |
| RCB | 3 (1 Capped | 2 Uncapped) |
| RR | None |
| SRH | 1 (Uncapped) |
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