Everything you need to know about IPL player retention ahead of October 31 deadline

The October 31 deadline is here and this is your guide regarding everything you need to know about the retentions. First up, each team can retain six players, pre-auction or through RTM

There is no restriction on the number of Indian players or overseas as far as the break-up of six is concerned. However, a team has to have a minimum of one uncapped player in that six and a maximum of two

An uncapped player will be considered if he hasn't played international cricket on or before October 31, 2024. Hence the likes of Harshit Rana, Yash Dayal, Rahul Tewatia and Rasikh Salam are eligible

An Indian player, who hasn't featured in a playing XI in any of the three formats in international cricket for five or more years will also be considered as an uncapped players, i.e., the MS Dhoni rule. Hence, the likes of Dhoni, Mayank Markande, Sandeep Sharma and Mohit Sharma are eligible for uncapped retention having played their last match for India before 2019

The break-up of salaries - if a team retains one player - Rs 18 crore will be deducted from the INR 120 crore purse, if two then 18 +14, if three then 18+14+11, if four then 18+14+11+18 and if five then INR 75 crore will be deducted and the team can decide the breakup

These are all for the capped players. INR 4 crore will be deducted for every uncapped player from the purse. For e.g., if a team is retaining four capped players and one uncapped INR 65 crore will be deducted from their purse

RTM - Right-to-match has returned for the first time since 2018. A team will be eligible to have the right to match the highest bid for their player(s) depending upon the remaining retention slots at the auction. However, there's a twist this time around. If the original team matches the bid, the team with the highest bid will get one final chance to inflate it to any amount they'd like and the original team will have to match the new amount if they want to buy the player back

Some of the biggest names including Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Andre Russell and Jos Buttler are set to be released by their respective franchises if the buzz and reports are to be believed

The IPL retention deadline is 5 PM on Thursday, October 31 and the live streaming of the retention announcement will begin at 4:30 PM IST on JioCinema