As BCCI announced IPL retention and auction rules on Saturday, social media flooded with meme with many linking it to MS Dhoni.
In a significant announcement, BCCI said on Saturday, September 28, “A capped Indian player will become uncapped if the player has in the last five calendar years preceding the year in which the relevant Season is held, not played in the starting XI in International Cricket (Test match, ODI, Twenty20 International) or does not have a Central Contract with BCCI. This will be applicable for Indian Players only.”
Since, Dhoni played his last match for India in July 2019, i.e. World Cup semi finals, he will now be slated as an uncapped player.
It is learnt that for an uncapped player, the retention cost will be ₹4 crore and hence CSK even if they retain Dhoni, can surely save a lot for the auction. A team was allowed up to four retentions in the last mega auction held in 2022.
Announcing the retention rules, BCCI on Sunday said 10 IPL franchises will be allowed to retain a maximum of six players from their previous squads, including usage Right To Match (RTM) card at the auction that will cost ₹75 crore out of an enhanced team purse of ₹120 crore
BCCI secretary Jay Shah also announced a fixed match fee of ₹7.50 lakh for all players selected to play the league games with an additional 1.05 crore income over and above their salaries.
A fixed salary purse of ₹12.60 crore in addition to the auction cum retention purse of ₹120 crore will have to be kept by the franchises for next season.
“The total salary cap will now consist of auction purse, incremental performance pay and match fees. Previously in 2024, the total salary cap (auction purse incremental performance pay) was Rs. 110 Crs which will now be Rs. 146 Crs (2025), Rs. 151 Crs (2026) and Rs. 157 Crs (2027),” the BCCI release stated.
The IPL franchises can now retain 6 players from their existing squad, either via retention or by using the RTM option.
