Very soon, the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 retention rules will be announced. There is a lot of mystery on how many players be retained by the franchises. Generally, before any mega auction, the squads see major changes as only a handful of players are allowed to be retained while the rest goes on to the auction pool. The IPL 2025 will see a mega auction and a report in The Indian Express has claimed that teams will be allowed to retain five players with no Right To Match option. 

It is not just players who will see a change but coaches too. Already, several teams have seen new coaches being appointed ahead of the new season like Rahul Dravid going to Rajasthan Royals. However, Ashish Nehra, coach of Gujarat Titans, would continue in his role according to a report in Cricbuzz. 

There was a review of Nehra, who was a left-arm pacer in the 2011 World Cup winning Indian cricket team, and it it was decided that he would see out his current contract, said the report. It also mentioned reports saying there might be change of ownership in GT, with Torrent Pharma, an Ahmedabad-based company, in race to acquire a majority and controlling stake. 

The report further mentioned that Nehra and Vikram Solanki, the director of cricket at GT, had re-negotiated the contracts after the IPL 2022 which they won. It also mentions of speculation that their salaries are reportedly around Rs 8 crore – making them some of the highest-paid coaching staff.

Nehra apparently “rubbed certain influential people the wrong way”, said the report, and hence was absent from the team’s TV coverage last season. 

The report also mentioned that there has been no notification to BCCI regarding any potential ownership change in Gujarat Titans.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction is expected to be held at the end of this year. Mega auctions often throw interesting combinations with the tricky part being the retention of players. According to a report in The Indian Express, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may allow the IPL IPL franchises to retain five players ahead of the IPl 2025 mega auction. The report further said that no Right To Match option shall be available. 

If indeed five players are allowed to be retained there it will be great for Mumbai Indians who can continue with five super stars – Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya.

According to IANS, the mega auction for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 will be held in November end or early December, BCCI sources informed. The rules and regulations for the same will be released by Board for Cricket Council of India (BCCI) in a couple of days, they said. The Indian Premier League has held two large auctions in the past ten years, with four-year intervals in between. The first major auction was held in 2014, then in 2018–when the Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings made their comeback after a two-year suspensions.

About developments related to the mega auction, sources close to BCCI confirmed to IANS that auction is likely to be scheduled in November end or early December . “IPL 2025 auction will take place in November end or early December this year. Rules of it will be out in couple of days,” BCCI sources told IANS.

The 2021 mega auction was forced to be postponed by one year due to the Covid-19 outbreak. In both cases, teams added an extra year to the contracts of their players.

Like the 2022 auction in February and the 2023 and 2024 auctions in December, the upcoming IPL mega sale is most likely going to be a two-day affair.

In the last mega auction held in 2022, the IPL teams were permitted to retain up to four players. With the end of the three-year cycle approaching, there are differing opinions among franchises about the optimal number of retained players. While some teams argue for a larger retention cap, possibly up to eight players, others are comfortable with the existing limit of four or five.

With IANS inputs 

Arjun Tendulkar, Mumbai Indians cricketer and son of Sachin Tendulkar, turned 25 on Tuesday. Arjun is a left-handed bowler and is known to play decent with the bat too. While he has played in domestic cricket, he is yet to be picked up for India. On his 25th birthday, Sachin Tendulkar wrote on X. “Happy birthday to my amazing son, Arjun! Your love for life and relentless dedication inspire me every day. Watching you hit the gym first thing this morning just shows your incredible work ethic. Proud of you always! Here’s to another year of chasing your dreams!”

Happy birthday to my amazing son, Arjun! Your love for life and relentless dedication inspire me every day. Watching you hit the gym first thing this morning just shows your incredible work ethic. Proud of you always! Here’s to another year of chasing your dreams! pic.twitter.com/1oXanWFhRE

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) September 24, 2024

Recently, Arjun Tendulkar warmed up for the upcoming first-class season with a match-winning nine-wicket haul in Goa’s innings and 189-run victory over hosts Karnataka in the Dr (Capt) K Thimmappiah Memorial Tournament, which is also known as KSCA Invitational, a pre-season meet for state teams. KSCA XI comprised mostly their U-19 and U-23 players with only two established names — Nikin Jose and glovesman Sharath Srinivas — in the playing XI.

The legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s son had a match haul of 9 for 87 in 26.3 overs across two innings. In the first innings, Karnataka folded for 103 in 36.5 overs with Tendulkar junior taking 5/41 in 13 overs.

In reply, Goa posted a solid 413 as Abhinav Tejrana (109) scored a hundred and Manthan Khutkar contributed 69.

In the second innings, KSCA XI were a shade better, being shot out for 121 in 30.4 overs with Arjun grabbing 4 for 46 in 13.3 overs.

Arjun  has so far played 49 competitive games across three formats at senior level and picked 68 wickets. In 13 first-class games, he has taken 21 wickets. 

With PTI inputs 

The mega auction for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 will be held in November end or early December, BCCI sources informed on Wednesday. The rules and regulations for the same will be released by Board for Cricket Council of India (BCCI) in a couple of days, they said. The Indian Premier League has held two large auctions in the past ten years, with four-year intervals in between. The first major auction was held in 2014, then in 2018–when the Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings made their comeback after a two-year suspensions.

About developments related to the mega auction, sources close to BCCI confirmed to IANS that auction is likely to be scheduled in November end or early December . “IPL 2025 auction will take place in November end or early December this year. Rules of it will be out in couple of days,” BCCI sources told IANS.

The 2021 mega auction was forced to be postponed by one year due to the Covid-19 outbreak. In both cases, teams added an extra year to the contracts of their players.

Like the 2022 auction in February and the 2023 and 2024 auctions in December, the upcoming IPL mega sale is most likely going to be a two-day affair.

In the last mega auction held in 2022, the IPL teams were permitted to retain up to four players. With the end of the three-year cycle approaching, there are differing opinions among franchises about the optimal number of retained players. While some teams argue for a larger retention cap, possibly up to eight players, others are comfortable with the existing limit of four or five.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction will be a mega one. Generally, when mega-auction happens in the IPL, the core of a team changes completely. This time, there is lot of intrigue surrounding the exact number for player who will be allowed retain by the 10 franchises from their current roster. All eyes are on Mumbai Indians. They have Suryakumar Yadav – the current India T20I captain, Rohit Sharma – the T20 World Cup winning skipper, Hardik Pandya – their designated captain and Jasprit Bumrah – senior bowler and somebody who has led India in the past. 

It would be interesting to see if MI can retain all these super stars. In the midst of this, a rumour went viral on social media that Sanjiv Goenka-owned Lucknow Super Giant is open to offer his a Rs 50 crore salary package in order to get his services. Goenka has responded to those rumours in an interview now.  

“There is a rumour going on that LSG have kept Rs 50 crore separately for Rohit Sharma. Is this true?” the anchor asked on Sports Tak. 

“You tell me one thing, do you, or anybody know, whether Rohit Sharma is coming to the auctions or not? All these speculations are without any reason. Whether Mumbai Indians will release Rohit Sharma or not, whether he is coming to the auction or not, even if he comes if you are going to use 50 per cent of your salary cap on one player, how will you manage the other 22 players?” Sanjiv Goenka asked. 

“So is he in your wishlist?” the anchor asked again. 

Goenka did not gave a straight answer. “Everybody has got a wishlist. You want best player, best captain to be in your team. It is not about wanting. What you have got and what is available. What can you do with that. This is that thing. I can want anyone but the same goes for all the franchises. You will not get everyone,” he replied. 

Despite being a consistent run-scorer for Team India and boasting a remarkable average and strike-rate, Rinku Singh was left out of the nation’s 15-man T20 World Cup 2024 squad after a patchy IPL 2024 with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). However, Rinku has now revealed the words of encouragement that India captain Rohit Sharma gave him after he was dropped. Despite winning IPL with KKR, Rinku was left out as India went for four spin options, instead including him as a travelling reserve.

“He (Rohit Sharma) came to me and said that it is okay, I’m still young, and there are many more tournaments to come. There is a World Cup every two years, so I shouldn’t be disappointed by this but focus on my game instead,” Rinku said in an interview to News24.

Immediately after the tournament, Rinku was included in India’s five-match T20I tour of Zimbabwe, where he played in every single game as a middle-order batter. After that, he starred in the T20I series away at Sri Lanka, surprisingly impressing with the ball, picking up two wickets in the penultimate over of the final T20I to turn the game in India’s favour.

Presently, Rinku boasts an average of nearly 60 and a strike rate of 174 in 17 T20I innings for India. Remarkably, he has stayed not out in 10 of the 17 innings.

Rinku also acknowledged Virat Kohli‘s style of leadership.

“I like Virat Kohli as well because aggression is very important while leading a team. So, his captaincy was also very good,” he said. Rinku had recently revealed that he would like to play for Kohli’s franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) if he is not retained by KKR.

Rinku is currently playing in the Uttar Pradesh T20 League (UP T20), where he is captaining Meerut Mavericks. He has not been included in any of the four squads for the Duleep Trophy to be held in September.