The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has set a deadline of October 31, 2024, for all 10 franchises to announce their list of retained players ahead of the mega auction. On Saturday, the IPL Governing Council confirmed that teams will be allowed to retain up to six players either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) card option.
Moreover, according to Cricbuzz, the BCCI has also stated a player making his international debut on or before October 31 will be considered capped in the auction. "It may be noted that for retention purposes, any player who gets capped on or before October 31, 2024, will be considered a capped player," the release from the IPL reportedly read.
The decision has been left up to the franchises to choose their combination for retentions and RTMs. However, the six retention/RTMs can have a maximum of five capped and two uncapped players. Moreover, the auction purse for each team has also been increased to Rs 120 crore. In a landmark decision, the IPL has also stated that all the players part of the playing 12 will get a match fee of Rs 7.05 lakh per match with BCCI Secretary Jay Shah also confirming the development.
"In a historic move to celebrate consistency and champion outstanding performances in the IPL, we are thrilled to introduce a match fee of INR 7.5 lakhs per game for our cricketers! A cricketer playing all league matches in a season will get Rs. 1.05 crores in addition to his contracted amount. Each franchise will allocate INR 12.60 crores as match fees for the season! This is a new era for the IPL and our players!" Shah wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Surprisingly, the BCCI hasn't mentioned anything related to the retention slabs officially yet while reportedly, the first player getting retained is set to get Rs 18 crore. The Indian players to have not played any international cricket for the last five years or do not hold a BCCI contract for the said period will also turn uncapped as the rule scrapped in 2021 has been included. This rule has opened up a possibility of CSK retaining MS Dhoni as an uncapped player for the next season. However, the franchises will have to decide all this and a lot more related to retentions on or before October 31, 2024, 5 PM IST.
