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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have reportedly set the stipulations ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction. They are likely to offer the franchises the option of retaining up to five players from their current squad. Contrary to initial speculation, the Right to Match (RTM) might not feature at the event for franchises to acquire players after releasing them into the auction pool.
The governing body were slated to announce the ruling regarding the number of retentions and the auction rules last month itself. However, there has been a significant delay with the official verdict yet to be disclosed after the BCCI held a meeting with the IPL franchise owners.
There were polarising views among the franchises. Some demanded as many as eight retentions while some implored for the current retention rules to be implemented. According to a report by the Indian Express, the BCCI feels that five retentions offer franchises the right balance to retain their core or conduct a revamp.
The RTM was widely speculated to return after being omitted in the previous mega auction. The provision was removed for the then-new franchises Gujarat Titans (GT) and the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). It was done so they could have a fair shot at the players in the auction pool.
No clarity regarding the number of overseas retentions ahead of IPL mega auction
While the five-retention approach is being speculated and reported, there is a lack of clarity as to how many overseas players can one franchise keep hold of. The prospect of uncapped players' retention fee is also unclear. Furthermore, there is still no update regarding the speculated provision of retired players being considered as uncapped players in terms of retention.
Another aspect that is expected to be highly debatable is the retention cost breakdown per retention. During the previous IPL mega auction, when a maximum of four retentions were permitted, the slabs were INR 16 crore, INR 12 crore, INR 8 crore, and INR 6 crore. Uncapped players were given contracts worth INR 4 crore.
The current policy has been slammed as in some cases the players don't earn even close to their true value, which they can possibly attain in the auction. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) owner Kavya Maran had made a serious case for independent negotiations without prescribed slabs being recommended by the BCCI beforehand.
