Mumbai: The Indian Premier League (IPL) governing council met in Bengaluru on Saturday to confirm that franchises can retain as many as six players pre-auction, the most in the league history, or by use of Right to Match (RTM) card. The only rider is that one of them must be an uncapped player.

In another important move, it was decided that players will get match fees over and above their contract value while the much-debated Impact Player rule, introduced in 2023, will remain in place. The other significant step is a 20 percent increase in the total purse, which has gone up to ₹120 crore from ₹100 crore. The player auction is likely in November end.

The player salary regulations, however, have been framed in such a manner that franchises will think long and hard before utilising the full quota of retentions before the auction. For the first three retentions, teams will see deductions of ₹18 crore, ₹14 crore and ₹11 crore each from their salary cap. But if they retain a fourth player, their purse would be reduced by ₹18 crore. And for a fifth retention, they would go to the auction ₹14 crore less.

Retaining an uncapped player would reduce the salary purse by ₹4 crore. If a team decides to retain six of its existing players, the total salary purse would be reduced by ₹79 crore even before the first paddle is raised in the auction room.

Although the salary cap has gone up substantially allowing the teams ₹120 crore to put together a new squad, their opinions on whether the remaining ₹41 crore is enough to complete the rest of the squad from the auction is likely to differ.

For the first time, there would be no restriction on whether the players retained by a team are all domestic or overseas players. This follows a suggestion from some of the teams, Sunrisers Hyderabad in particular, during their recent meeting with IPL officials. This clears the way for SRH to retain all their marquee overseas players – Pat Cummins, Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen. Similarly, Mumbai Indians can retain a bunch of their Indian core.

Easier to retain Dhoni

The ₹4 crore deduction for retaining an uncapped player would benefit Chennai Super Kings hugely as it would pave the way for retaining MS Dhoni. The IPL GC has re-introduced the rule which was in existence till 2021, where a capped player who hasn’t played international cricket for five years would be considered uncapped in terms of IPL regulations. Dhoni’s retention now become easier for CSK as their purse would only be lighter by ₹4 crore.

₹1cr match fee bonanza

The upcoming IPL edition will for the first time see players receive a match fee of ₹7.5 lakh per outing. Even the Impact Player will benefit. “A cricketer playing all league matches in a season will get ₹1.05 crore in addition to his contracted amount. Each franchise will allocate ₹12.60 crore as match fee for the season,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah posted on X.

The move has been introduced for the benefit of several players who do not draw handsome salaries, for a number of reasons, including auction dynamics. Rinku Singh, for example, has been playing IPL on a ₹55 lakh salary, much less than the ₹1 crore per year he gets from his BCCI contract.

“Any player – Indian or overseas – who features in the playing twelve, will get a match fee of ₹7.5 lakh per match,” a BCCI official said.

Impact player stays

The Impact player rule will remain in force for the third season. While many believe it has discouraged the development of Indian all-rounders, the broadcasters’ opinion appears to have tilted the balance in favour of continuing with the rule. Par scores have gone up for the past two years and there have been more fours and sixes on view.

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