Salary cap increased by a whopping 20% for each franchise for IPL 2018 Auction

India’s premier domestic cricket league, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to get even bigger this time around. Dubbed as one of the world’s richest sports competitions, the IPL governing council has now raised each franchise’s salary cap by 20%. Teams could splurge up to nearly Rs 78 crore each on player salaries in 2018, with an expected cumulative expenditure of Rs 464 crore to Rs 618 crore for the eight franchises.

After a meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday, the IPL governing council also revealed teams will have to spend a minimum of 75 percent of the salary cap each season. The decision means the eight IPL teams are likely to spend anywhere between Rs 464 crore and Rs 618 crore on players alone for just eight weeks of cricketing action in 2018.

Speaking to the AFP, IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said, “Whatever changes we have come up with are all in the interest of the players. We are also looking to increase the prize money for the players in future.”

IPL games worth almost as much as EPL matches

While most of India’s big-name players are already attached to franchises, several players bagged lucrative deals in the IPL auction in February last year. England all-rounder Ben Stokes was the highlight of the auction who set a new record for a foreigner by joining the Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs 14.5 crore.

England pace bowler Tymal Mills went to the Royal Challengers Bangalore for more than Rs 12 crore, even though he had only played four Twenty20 internationals before that. The attractions of last-ball winning sixes, extravagant switch-hitting and rapid-fire centuries have made IPL a favorite of the masses, especially the younger generation.

The IPL’s 60 games are valued at roughly Rs 54 crore each, not far off the estimated Rs 61 crore million per English Premier League match – and well over the roughly Rs 40 crore price tag attached to home internationals in India.