IPL 2018: Retention Policy explained – Date, time, channel and online streaming

THE IPL 2018 players’ auction is set to be held in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28. Ahead of the much-awaited auctions, there is another crucial event – IPL player retention, which will take place in Mumbai on January 4.

Where to watch?

While the player retentions used to be done through formal e-mails, which were sent to the BCCI by the IPL franchises, this year the entire event will be broadcast live on Star Sports, starting 1900 IST  on January 4. It will air live on Star Sports’ streaming service Hotstar.

What is ‘Player Retention’?

A franchise can retain five players using one of the two combinations - three pre-auction retentions and two ‘Right To Match’ (RTMs) or two pre-auction retentions and three RTMs. This means the franchises can retain a maximum of three players at the auction.

What is ‘Right To Match’?

Right to match or RTM basically gives a franchise the authority to match the highest bid for a player they didn't choose to retain pre-auction, and acquire his services again. For instance, if RCB opt against retaining AB de Villiers and one of the other franchises buy him for an amount, say INR 5 Crores, then RCB can activate their RTM and get ABD back for the same amount, i.e INR.5 Crores.

Key Changes: 

If the franchise retains three players, the cost of the players will be 15, 11 and 7 crores INR respectively. If the franchise retains two players, the cost of the players will be 12.5 and 8.5 crores INR respectively. If the franchise retains one player: The cost of the player will be 12.5 crores INR. In case any franchise retains an uncapped player, the cost of the player will be 3 crores INR. The money will be deducted from the franchises' auction purse.

In the past, if a franchise was paying a player 15 crores (actual price), only 12 crores (guideline price) was deducted from their budget. The IPL GC has released a new policy that will see the teams pay the highest amount of the guideline or actual price. Also, if a player is not satisfied with the price being quoted by his franchises, he could opt to be a part of the auction pool which could see him get a huge price.

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