The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is expected to permit IPL franchises to retain five players during the upcoming auction, without providing a right to match option, The Indian Express reported.
In a recent meeting at its headquarters, the BCCI discussed player retention with all ten team owners. The majority expressed a desire to retain 5-6 players to ensure continuity. Following this feedback, the BCCI has agreed to their request, believing that allowing the retention of up to five players will help protect the franchises’ brand value.
Before the 2022 season, franchises were permitted to retain a maximum of four players, with the stipulation of not retaining more than three Indian players and two overseas players. However, there is currently no clarity on how many overseas players each franchise can retain.
With the likelihood of retaining five players, all eyes are now on Mumbai Indians. Despite having maintained a consistent core over the past decade, their underwhelming performance this season under Pandya’s captaincy raises curiosity about how they will approach their player retentions.
The BCCI has yet to finalise the retention costs for the upcoming auction.
With the BCCI finalizing the number of retentions, the upcoming player auction is set to be a significant event. During the recent meeting, most franchises, particularly those part of the tournament since its inception, advocated for holding major auctions every four to five years. They cited continuity concerns and requested the BCCI delay this year’s big auction by a year, as they were reluctant to lose key players they had heavily invested in. The last two major auctions occurred on a four-year cycle, in 2018 and 2022.