Reports: BCCI to allow franchises to retain four players ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction

While the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) hasn’t reached a conclusion yet, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have started their preparation for the 2022 season. The gala T20 league will undergo much transition next season which also includes tournament expansion. Two new franchises are set to come into the picture, making IPL a 10-team event. Hence, it would be interesting to see what the change in the system will result in.

For the unversed, more than eight teams have taken part in IPL before. The 2011 season also 10 saw sides fighting it out for the prestigious title while the next two editions were a nine-team event. The competition was further reduced to eight teams in the 2014 season and since then there haven’t been any changes in the number of sides. However, dynamics are set to change again for the upcoming season.

Notably, BCCI is also planning to conduct a mega auction for IPL 2022 which would see all the existing sides going under revamp. The Indian cricket board has reportedly finalized player retention rules. Earlier, three players were allowed to retain while there were two right-to-match (RTM) options.

Player retention for IPL 2022

As per the Times of India, however, four players can be retained by each franchise ahead of the 2022 bidding event. However, the condition is either a team can retain three Indians and one overseas player or two Indians and as many foreign stars.

Speaking of the 2021 competition, the gala tournament was scheduled to take place in April-May. However, the widely-spreading COVID-19 virus forced BCCI to suspend the tournament midway on May 4. The remaining matches will now take place in the United Arab Emirates in September and October. However, the going won’t be smooth for many teams as several foreign stars are expected to pull out of the tournament with the T20 World Cup commencing days after IPL’s conclusion.

Meanwhile, the Rishabh Pant-led Delhi Capitals were leading the team standings at the time of season suspension with six wins in eight games. While Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings each won five of their seven matches, defending champions MI got over the line four out of seven times. These four sides are the front-runners to get a place in the playoffs and it would be interesting to see if any major turn of events take place.