Another twist before the IPL 2025 Mega Auction. According to the report published by ESPN Cricinfo and Cricbuzz, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) all set to retain South African wicket-keeper batter Heinrich Klaasen for Rs 23 crore.
The mega auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 can be held next month i.e. in the last week of November. However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not made any official announcement regarding this. Prior to the auction, the BCCI has allowed all 10 teams to retain a maximum of 6 players from their previous squad. The deadline for finalizing the retention of the teams has been kept on October 31. The IPL franchises jointly retain six players in the squad by choosing the retention and right-to-match (RTM) option. Apart from this, the auction purse has also been increased to Rs 120 crore, which was Rs 100 crore last year. Retention can have up to five capped players and up to two uncapped players. In such a situation, if a franchise retains five capped players before the auction, then it will have to spend Rs 75 crore.
THE LIKELY RETENTIONS OF SUNRISERS HYDERABAD. [Espn Cricinfo]
– Klaasen (23 Crore)
– Cummins (18 Crore)
– Abhishek (14 Crore)
– Head & Nitish are likely to be other 2 retentions. pic.twitter.com/UgNaCl5WQe— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 16, 2024
That’s about two-thirds of the purse’s budget. Apart from this, every team in the mega auction will have the option to use up to 6 right-to-match cards, but this number will depend on how many players the team retains before the auction. For example, if a franchise retains 4 players, they will have 2 RTM cards during the mega auction.
While the IPL rules reportedly state that the first retention must be Rs 18 crore, the second Rs 14 crore, the third Rs 11 crore, the fourth Rs 18 crore, the fifth Rs 14 crore and the uncapped Rs 4 crore, a franchise is free to distribute the money among players in any way they like.