The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has provided an important update on player prices in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 ahead of the mega auction.
As per ESPNCricinfo reports, it is learned that franchises can divide the limited retention pot of Rs 75 crore among 5 limited players as they wish.
Retention slabs for IPL 2025
The retention slabs for IPL 2025 are structured as Rs 18 million for player No. 1, Rs 14 million for player No. 2, Rs 11 million for player No. 3, Rs 18 million. rupees for player #4 and 14 million rupees. for Player No. 5. But the franchises have been given complete freedom over the budget of Rs 75 crore to accumulate among their holdings.
However, reports also claim that while franchises can pay players any amount within these limits if the actual payment exceeds the allocation, the excess will be deducted from the auction purse.
IPL 2025 retention rule
The actual retention rule for IPL 2025 reads like this (as cited by Cricbuzz): “Retention deduction from the total amount in lieu of per player fee, in this case 75 Crs, irrespective of what amount is paid to 5 players. If the total amount exceeds 75 Crs then actual amount will be deducted. In case the amount is less than 75 Crs then 75 Crs will be deducted.
SRH to retain Heinrich Klaasen, Pat Cummins and Abhishek Sharma for IPL 2025
An example of franchises getting complete freedom over their money is Sunrisers Hyderabad retentions. The franchise will reportedly retain Heinrich Klaasen, Pat Cummins and Abhishek Sharma along with Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
SRH will reportedly shell out INR 23 crore for Heinrich Klaasen, Rs 5 crore more than the first player’s retention slab of Rs 18 crore. The wicketkeeper-batsman has been sensational for the team ever since he joined the team, scoring nearly 1,000 runs in 35 IPL matches. He managed 479 runs in 15 innings in IPL 2024, at a strike rate of 171.07.
Reports also claimed that Pat Cummins, on the other hand, will be the second retainer and will remain with the team at INR 18 crore, and India all-rounder Abhishek Sharma, who will be the third retainer, will remain with the team at INR 14 crore. .
It is also known that Travis Head is also expected to remain in the team. While Visakhapatnam’s Nitish Kumar Reddy, who played for the Indian team earlier this month, will also be retained.
All five players were tremendous for SRH last year. Captain Cummins picked 18 wickets while Abhishek scored 484 runs in 16 games with a strike rate of over 200. Head, on the other hand, was the team’s leading run-getter in the tournament and third in the orange cap list .
Nitish Reddy finished the tournament with 303 runs scored at 142.92 and three wickets. He recently made his debut for India in the T20I series against Bangladesh, smashing 74 off 34 in his second game.
It remains to be seen if other teams will also follow SRH’s policy of retaining players for IPL 2025 for INR 23 crore, 18 crore and 14 crore.