IPL 2025: Pant, Iyer, Arshdeep likely to enter auction after retention rule change

Ahead of the mega 2025 auction, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to witness some major changes in its player retention process, which will likely push several marquee players to enter the auction pool instead of being retained by the franchises.

Earlier, if a player's retention price would exceed the designated price, then the lower amount used to be deducted from the franchise's purse. However, the new rule mandates that the higher amount between the retention price and the designated slot value will be deducted, which will notably impact teams' financial planning.

For instance, when RCB retained Virat Kohli for INR 17 crore, only INR 15 crore (the designated slot value) was deducted from their purse. However, under the new system, franchises will face larger deductions. This year, Sunrisers Hyderabad's potential retention of Heinrich Klaasen (INR 23 crore), Pat Cummins (INR 18 crore), and Abhishek Sharma (INR 14 crore) would result in a massive INR 55 crore deduction from their INR 120 crore purse, despite the combined value of the designated being only INR 43 crore (INR 18, INR 14, INR 11 crore).

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Rishabh Pant shares cryptic post ahead of mega IPL 2025 auction

The situation has already sparked speculation, with Delhi Capitals' captain Rishabh Pant recently hinting at his auction interest through a social media post and asking about his potential auction value. He had recently posted on X: "If go to the auction. will I be sold or not and for how much ??"

Other players like Shreyas Iyer, Kuldeep Yadav, and Arshdeep Singh could also consider the auction route. The auction could prove more lucrative for these players as competitive bidding could drive up their value beyond retention offers.

Furthermore, teams with larger purses like Punjab Kings (potentially INR 112 crore) could make aggressive bids. Meanwhile, the Right to Match card system also plays a huge role as this year, an additional bid will be given to the final bidder in case a franchise chooses to retain a player via RTM method.

For instance, if player X's bidding reaches upto INR 5 crore in the auction and his existing franchise wishes to exercise RTM at that point, then whichever team had raised the last bid will be given one chance to raise the bid beyond INR 5-crore mark. If the franchise chooses to do that, then the franchise using RTM will have match that bid to acquire the player. However, in case the other franchise does not choose to raise the bid, then the exisiting franchise could use RTM for the last bid, INR 5 crore in this case. 

Lastly, the players can negotiate fresh terms instead of being bound by existing arrangements. However, some franchises are taking a different approach. For instance, Mumbai Indians are reportedly set to retain their core Indian quartet, Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya after having reached mutually beneficial agreements despite the higher purse impact.