The much-awaited IPL 2025 mega auction is scheduled to take place on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This is the second consecutive year the auction is being held abroad, with Dubai set to host the event in 2024. These dates coincide with the third and fourth days of the first Test between India and Australia to be played in Perth, adding an extra layer of excitement to the cricket calendar.
The mega auction, held every three years, is spread over two days instead of the usual one day, attracting huge attention from cricket fans around the world. During the event, ten IPL franchises will strategically build their teams for the next three years (2025-27), making it one of the most-watched events in the sport.
October 31 was the last date for teams to retain players for 2024, with a total of 46 players retained across ten franchises. Sunrisers Hyderabad wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen became the most expensive retainer at Rs 23 crore. This was followed by Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and Nicholas Pooran (Lucknow Super Giants), both of whom were retained for Rs 21 crore. The highlight of the retention day was Mumbai Indians acquiring all their key Indian players – Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma and Tilak Verma for a total of Rs 75 crore.
According to ESPNcricinfo, each franchise has a total purse of Rs 120 crore to build their team. After retention, Punjab Kings are left with the biggest budget of Rs 110.5 crore, in which they have retained only two uncapped players – Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh for a total of Rs 9.5 crore. In contrast, Rajasthan Royals have the smallest purse of Rs 41 crore, having retained a maximum of six players, Kolkata Knight Riders have adopted the same strategy, having Rs 51 crore left to spend.
This year, teams were allowed to retain a maximum of six players, with a maximum of five capped and two uncapped. Retention strategies included direct retention before the auction or using right-to-match (RTM) options during the auction.
The RTM rule allows a franchise to match the highest bid for a player who was part of their 2024 squad. If another franchise places the highest bid during the auction, the player's previous team can match this bid to retain the player. If the original franchise matches the highest bid, the bidding team may increase the bid further, and the original franchise must again match this new bid to retain the player.
Punjab Kings have retained just two players and have the most RTM options with four. Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have retained three players, have three RTM options, while Delhi Capitals have two with four retained players. Five franchises – Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Titans, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants – have retained five players each and thus have an RTM option. Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders have retained six players each, but they do not have any RTM option available. (ANI)
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