Can any franchise have zero retentions going into mega auction?

The IPL 2025 retention date is getting closer, with 31st October being the deadline set by the IPL governing council. They expect that all ten franchises will submit their retention lists, which will clarify which players they are moving forward with in the upcoming mega auction. There is a high probability of seeing some turnaround regarding KL Rahul’s retention with LSG as well as Rishabh Pant’s future with DC. Adding more twist, whether Rohit Sharma will return to the MI camp or not?.

All these cases are currently heating up the IPL market. This time, the retention policy has seen changes, with a major one being the increase in the number of retentions, allowing a total of six players to be retained. But what if franchises decide not to retain any of them before the IPL 2025 mega auction? Will it change the dynamics? See the answer in detail.

How many players can be retained in IPL 2025?

A total of six players can be retained by any franchise, which can be done through the retention process before the auction or by using RTM cards during the IPL 2025 mega auction. This was not the case initially, as there was a limitation on the number of RTMs when they were last used at the mega auction before IPL season 11.

IPL Retention Slab

Can any franchise have zero retentions going into mega auction

To clarify, if franchises do not want to retain any players, they can choose to do so, as there are now six RTMs available, making things easier for franchises. Although a few modifications have been made to the RTM rules that may create some tension among franchises, but they still have the opportunity to get back the players they initially released, as they can acquire those players from the auction as well as via RTM. It all depends on how many players they want to retain directly and how many they want to put under the hammer and then get back via RTM cards. For instance, if a team retains a total of 3 players—2 capped and 1 uncapped—they will have three RTMs left.

What is RTM in IPL

As mentioned, there has been a change in the RTM rule, which states that franchises that place the highest bid will be given one extra opportunity to raise their bid before the franchise holding the RTM card claims the player. In previous times when it was used, it was quite simple, franchises that wanted to get back the players they had previously released could easily do so via RTM by matching the highest bid made for the player by another franchise. This small change gives the player one more opportunity to command a higher price.