While awaiting the announcement on the retention policy from the IPL governing council ahead of the mega auction which is scheduled for 2025, there have been recommendations that franchises may be allowed a total of up to five retentions even though the Right-to-match (RTM) shall be unlikely included in the next season.
Indian Express has reported that the BCCI might still implement five retentions per franchise and this time do it without the RTM returning. This means that the established franchises will be able to keep almost half of their best 11 which is likely to benefit the franchises in retaining their core in the subsequent seasons.
As per the report, which mentions a meeting held with the franchise owners, many franchises expressed interest in having 5-6 retentions, a request which the BCCI is likely to grant.
However, the regularity of such massive auctions was another issue that was raised. This time, once again, a lot of the franchises had requested that the larger auctions be spaced out every four or five years so that they can work with the players for whom they have put in so much time and money.
Examples include Shah Rukh Khan, owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders, and most other teams such as Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans supporting the proposition. Notably, both CSK and MI are two of the most popular franchises of this tournament and have been successful to the extent of winning five IPL titles each.
The possible retention of five players by the BCCI, if it happens, will also help the franchises in protecting their brand for a long time. A few big names have already been painted in the colours of specific franchises. It will not be a positive step to have players changing teams so often thereby limiting players from forming associations with teams like MS Dhoni with CSK, Virat Kohli with RCB and many others.
If the five retentions that we are hearing are going to be made official, one thing is for sparring. Some of the big names will probably be retained by their teams, whereas younger players will be given a chance to make their mark in another team, which is a good thing for the audience.
