IPL 2025 player retention rules, salary purse for mega auction; read all 8 big decisions

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday night (September 28) announced the IPL 2025 player retention rules and other changes after the Governing Council's (GC) meeting in Bengaluru.

Ahead of the IPL 2025 mega players' auction, a franchise can retain up to six players including the Right to Match (RTM) option.

Rs 120 crore purse 

"Following a constructive dialogue with the owners of the 10 franchises in July at the BCCI Headquarters, the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council (GC) met in Bengaluru today to decide the TATA IPL Player Regulations 2025-2027," the BCCI said in a statement.

Also read: IPL 2025 to have player match fees

The IPL 2025 auction purse for each team has been set at Rs 120 crore.

The first retention will cost Rs 18 crore followed by second at Rs 14 crore and third at Rs 11 crore. The fourth retention will cost Rs 18 crore and the fifth Rs 14 crore which means a franchise will have only Rs 45 crore for the auction if they retain five players (Total cost Rs 75 crore).

Old rule is back, set to benefit CSK and Dhoni

For retaining an uncapped player, the cost is Rs 4 crore. If a franchise retains the maximum of six players then they will pay Rs 79 crore from the Rs 120 crore purse. They will be left with Rs 41 crore for the auction.

Also, an old rule is back we which will help Chennai Super Kings (CSK) retain their former captain MS Dhoni as an 'uncapped' player. He played his last international match in 2019.

According to the return of the old rule those Indian players who retired from international cricket five years prior to the auction will be considered uncapped. The rule was in place when IPL began in 2008 but was removed in 2021. Now it's back.

Here are all the rules on player retentions, salary purse, new rule on banning players who withdraw, and more for IPL 2025 to IPL 2027.

1. The IPL franchises can retain a total of 6 players from their existing squad. This can be either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) option.

2. It is at the discretion of the IPL franchise to choose their combination for Retentions and RTMs. The 6 retentions / RTMs can have a maximum of 5 capped players (Indian & Overseas) and a maximum of 2 uncapped players.

3. The auction purse for the franchises has been set at Rs 120 crore for IPL 2025. The total salary cap will now consist of auction purse, incremental performance pay and match fees. Previously in 2024, the total salary cap (auction purse + incremental performance pay) was Rs 110 crore which will now be Rs 146 crore (2025), Rs 151 crore (2026) and Rs 157 crore (2027).

4. A match fee has been introduced for the first time in the history of IPL. Each Playing member (Including the Impact Player) will get a match fee of Rs 7.5 lakh per match. This will be in addition to his contracted amount.

Also read: Zaheer Khan named LSG mentor for IPL 2025

5. Any overseas player will have to register for the mega auction. In case the overseas player doesn't register, then he will be ineligible to register in the following year’s player auction.

6. Any player who registers in the player auction and after getting picked at the auction, makes himself unavailable before the start of the season, will get banned from participating in the tournament and player auction for 2 seasons.

7. A capped Indian player will become uncapped, if the player has in the last five calendar years preceding the year in which the relevant season is held, not played in the starting XI in international cricket (Test match, ODI, Twenty20 International) or does not have a central contract with BCCI. This will be applicable to Indian players only.

8. The Impact Player rule will continue for IPL 2025, IPL 2026, and IPL 2027.