The IPL governing council decided on Saturday that the 10 franchises will be allowed to retain up to six players from their previous teams, including one ‘Right to Match’ (RTM) card, with a cost of ₹75 crore out of the increased team purse of ₹120 crore. In the previous mega auction held in 2022, a team was allowed to retain a maximum of four players. Additionally, in a historic decision, the council has set a match fee of ₹7.5 lakh per game for IPL players for the first time, applicable to both Indian and overseas players. This means if a player plays all league matches, they will earn an additional ₹1.05 crore as match fees apart from their contract.
Jay Shah’s Announcement
BCCI Secretary Jay Shah announced this historic decision on his X (formerly Twitter) handle after the meeting on Saturday. He stated that the decision was made to “celebrate continuity and excellence” in the IPL. Shah also explained that to facilitate the match fees, each franchise will allocate ₹12.60 crore.
He wrote on X, “A historic step has been taken to celebrate continuity and excellence in the IPL. We are thrilled to introduce a match fee of ₹7.5 lakh per game for our cricketers. A player playing all league matches in a season will earn ₹1.05 crore in addition to their contracted amount. Each franchise will allocate ₹12.60 crore per season for match fees. This marks a new era for the IPL and our players.”
Special Match Fee
In the IPL, an uncapped Indian player (who plays three IPL matches) will have a minimum base price of ₹20 lakh and will also earn an additional ₹22.5 lakh. Therefore, he can earn ₹42.5 lakh in a season by playing just three matches, while if he plays 10 Ranji Trophy matches in a season, he would only earn ₹24 lakh.
Right-to-Match Card to Help Build Core Team
In the IPL 2025 mega auction, the governing council has introduced the Right to Match card to help franchises retain their core teams. According to this, every franchise can use this card to retain a former player of the team besides the players already retained. If a franchise retains three players, they can use this card three times. However, if they retain five players, they can use the card once. With this, a franchise will get the opportunity to retain a player by matching the highest bid made by another team during the auction.
MS Dhoni in IPL 2025
The BCCI is planning to include players in the uncapped player list who retired from international cricket (Test, ODI, and T20I) five years ago and are not part of the BCCI central contract anymore. This rule is particularly designed for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who retired from international cricket on August 15, 2019. However, Dhoni has been consistently playing in the IPL for the last five years.
He led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to victory in 2023 and handed over the captaincy to Ruturaj in 2024. There were speculations that 2024 would be his final season. If Dhoni is retained as an uncapped player, CSK can keep him for ₹4 crore. This new rule in the IPL is specifically created for Dhoni.
Decisions on Retention
- Each franchise can retain a maximum of five players.
- Besides five retentions, every franchise will get one Right to Match.
- If a team retains only three players, they will get three Right to Match cards.
- Hence, a team can keep a maximum of six players.
- Among retained players, a maximum of five can be capped, and two can be uncapped.
- There will be no limit on the number of Indian or overseas players among the retained ones.
Money to Flow for Players
- For the 2025 mega auction, the franchise purse has been increased to ₹120 crore.
- In 2024, franchises had a total purse of ₹110 crore.
- Auction purse (₹90 crore) + performance fee (₹20 crore) = In 2025, the total purse available to franchises will be ₹146 crore.
- It will increase to ₹151 crore in 2026 and ₹156 crore in 2027.
- This means each franchise will have three separate purses: for the auction, performance fees, and match fees.
- For the first retention, ₹18 crore will be deducted, for the second, ₹14 crore, and for the third, ₹11 crore.
- The fourth retention will cost ₹18 crore again, and the fifth retention ₹14 crore.
- Players will get ₹7.5 lakh per league match as match fees, in addition to their contracts.
- A player playing the entire season will earn ₹1.05 crore as match fees.
- Indian players who retired from international cricket five years ago will be considered uncapped.
- The Impact Player rule will be applicable for the 2025-2027 seasons.
- Foreign players will have to register for the mega auction.
- Registered players will be eligible to participate until 2027.
- Players selected in the auction but opting out before the season will be banned for two years.