Vishwas Puri
BCCI is likely to delay the announcement of retention rules by 10 days to 2 weeks. According to the number of franchises, that contacted the BCCI regarding the delay in announcement, have hinted that it might take an extra 10 days to 2 weeks for the announcement of the retention policy. However, there is no official statement by BCCI regarding the announcement date. Earlier, the retention rules were likely to be announced by the end of August, following the franchise owners meeting that month. The announcement is likely to be made during or after the AGM, which is going to be held on September 29, but it is important to note that there is no direct connection between AGM and BCCI.
Although there is no confirmation regarding the announcement of retention rules, it is rooted that franchises can announce their retained players before November 15. It is already confirmed that the auction of IPL 2025 will be a mega auction, which will most probably be held in late December. The last mega auction was held in IPL 2022 when the two new teams, Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans, made their arrival in the league. In the last mega auctions, a maximum of 4 retentions were allowed, out of which a franchise could retain 3 Indian and one overseas player or two pairs of 2 Indian and 2 overseas players. There was no RTM (Right to Match) in the previous auction. The franchises have also demanded to mount up the purse amount so that it can help all the teams to have a decent amount available to bag some new players for the team and would also benefit the players too as they might be getting a higher pay.
The RTM rule is also likely to return in the league after 2018. The BCCI is also favouring the decision of classifying the players who have been retired from international cricket since a long time, as uncapped. This policy can be favourable for CSK owners who initially requested BCCI to consider internationally retired players as uncapped, as it might help the CSK to retain MS Dhoni as an uncapped player, which might indirectly affect the TRP of the league on a huge scale. Alongside, it can also be beneficial to retain other players, such as Sunil Narine, who has not made an international appearance since 5 years. But the official announcement regarding this rule has not been announced.
