Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the retention policy for the next edition of Indian Premier League (IPL). The existing eight franchises will be able to retain upto four players whereas the two new franchises have the option to pick three players before the mega auction.
"The 8 existing team will first get the opportunity to retain a maximum of 4 Players and thereafter the 2 new teams will be able to retain a maximum of 3 players before the auction," the BCCI said in a mail to the franchises on October 30.
Combination of players
The eight teams will be able to retain a combination of maximum of three home players (capped/uncapped) while restricting the number of overseas players in the retention list to two. A maximum of two uncapped players can be retained by these two teams.
For the new entrants, only one overseas pick and one uncapped player is allowed. The limit for capped players is two compared to three players for existing teams.
Window of retention
The mail also revealed the window of retention for all the teams. The eight franchises can take the decision to retain players from November 1 to November 30 this year. On the other hand, the two new teams will have a window of December 1 to December 25 to choose their three players before going into the auction.
The reports of an increase in the purse of franchises have also turned out to be true. Going into the mega auction, each franchise will have an additional Rs 5 crore, taking the total amount of purse at Rs 90 crore.
Retained players' salary
If a team decides to retain four players, the salary of players will be Rs 16 crore, Rs 12 crore, Rs 8 crore and Rs 6 crore respectively. For three players, it is Rs 15 crore, Rs 11 crore and Rs 7 crore respectively. In case a franchise decides to retain only two players, they need to pay Rs 14 crore and Rs 10 crore respectively. If there is only one player retained, his salary will be Rs 14 crore. If the number of retained players include an uncapped player, his salary will be Rs 4 crore. Since retaining players' will be an expensive affair, we may see teams retaining fewer player and then going after them in the mega auction.
