“It’s really not fair…”R Ashwin massive criticism on RTM rule

Indian cricket star Ravichandran Ashwin believes the Right to Match (RTM) rule in the IPL auction is the most unfair for players. This rule allowed teams that had the player in the previous season to match the highest bid and keep the player.

Teams were allowed to use two or three RTM cards, but this rule was stopped in the 2022 IPL mega auction to give the new teams, Gujarat and Lucknow, a chance to pick the best players from a bigger group. Before the 2025 IPL auction, the teams met with officials to talk about how many players they can keep and if the RTM rule will be used again.

Ashwin doesn’t really like the RTM rule because he thinks it’s not fair to the players. He explained this on his YouTube channel by giving an example. Imagine there’s a player named X who is part of a team called Sunrisers. Player X is worth about 5 to 6 crores. Now, if Sunrisers wants to keep Player X, they have to bid for him starting at a low price of 2 crores.

Ashwin also mentioned that this rule can cause conflicts between the teams.

“Let’s say KKR and the Mumbai Indians are both trying to sign the same player. The price goes up to 6 crores, and eventually, they announce, ‘The player is now with the Mumbai Indians for 6 crores.’ With the RTM option, the Sunrisers can then offer the same amount of 6 crores to get the player. The issue is that while the Sunrisers are pleased, KKR and the Mumbai Indians are not. Only the Sunrisers are satisfied because they initially offered the minimum bid,” he continued.

Ashwin also described how giving three right to match cards could leave the player with very little in the end.

“It’s really not fair. Right now, SRH has to pay 6.20 crores and another team 6.40 crores to get a player. They should both pay a fair price for the player. The issue with RTM is that it doesn’t give the player a fair price. If each team gets three RTMs, the players won’t really get anything. They already don’t get a fair price in the auction,” he finished.

In the meantime, the BCCI (the group that controls cricket in India) is asking the team owners for their thoughts to make the rules for the next auction. They will then share these ideas with the group that runs the IPL.

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