CHENNAI: The Indian Premier League franchises are now allowed to retain or right to match as many as six players in the upcoming mega auction, the BCCI announced on Saturday. While the number of retentions or RTMs are at the team's discretion, a maximum of five capped (Indian or overseas) and two uncapped are allowed in the six.
The biggest news is that any Indian capped player, who has not played international cricket in five years, can be retained as an uncapped player by the team. This move will allow Chennai Super Kings to retain former India and franchise captain MS Dhoni to be retained as an uncapped player. Similarly, Kolkata Knight Riders can retain Sunil Narine as an uncapped player.
The other key decision is that all overseas have to register for the mega auction to be eligible for mini-auction. And if a player withdraws just before the season after getting picked in the auction, they will be banned for two years from the league.
While the auction purse have been increased to Rs 120 crore from Rs 100 crore, the overall salary cap will also include the new initiative from the BCCI which provides a Rs 7.5 lakh match fee for players.
"A cricketer playing all league matches in a season will get Rs 1.05 crore in addition to his contracted amount. Each franchise will allocate `12.6 crore as match fees for the season," BCCI secretary Jay Shah posted on social media.
As a result, the total salary cap (auction purse + incremental performance pay) which was Rs 110 crore for 2024, will now be Rs 146 crore (2025), Rs 151 crore (2026) and Rs 157 crore (2027).
This new initiative, while having a significant impact on the money players get, especially the uncapped ones, it will also influence the way franchises approach auctions and the amount of money they spend on a player.
BCCI AGM on Sunday
Meanwhile, with the BCCI Annual General Meeting (AGM) set to take place on Sunday, all focus will be on electing the new representative for the International Cricket Council. Finding a successor for the outgoing secretary Shah, who is set to take charge of the ICC in December, is not on the agenda as of now.
Shah, who currently holds the post of ICC representative and board director and also chairs the ICC Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee, will have to resign from those positions having been elected as the next ICC Chairperson last month. BCCI president Roger Binny is the alternate director, but the board will be naming a new representative in the upcoming AGM on Sunday.