IPL 2022: How much money can two new IPL teams spend to sign initial three players?

The much-awaited list of retained players was unveiled on November 30 (Tuesday) ahead of the mega auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the next season. The existing eight teams had to take some tough decisions and leave out some of their key players to abide by the rules in place. The next IPL season in also set to witness the introduction of two new teams, Lucknow and Ahmedabad, who will now look to sign three players before auction.

All the released players from the existing eight teams now have a chance to play for Lucknow and Ahmedabad in the next season. However, the two franchises won’t be able to pick more than three players. They can only sign maximum two Indian players and one foreign players.

The BCCI had set a price slab for the existing eight teams to retain their players. In a similar way, according to Indian Express, the two new teams will have only Rs 33 crore to spend from their 90 crore purse to sign three players. The break up for the same is – Rs 15 crore, Rs 11 crore and Rs 7 crore for the first, second and third player respectively.

“If a player is negotiating with a new franchise, he can do it according to the purse allocation. If someone is in line to become the captain of a new team, then obviously he will be joining for Rs 15 crore,” said a CEO of one of the franchises.

KL Rahul to lead Lucknow?

Reports have already suggested that KL Rahul will be playing for Lucknow next season with the negotiations starting long back. Punjab Kings head coach Anil Kumble confirmed that the opening batter decided to go into the auction and hence the franchise had to release him. Something similar might happen with Rashid Khan who opted to leave Sunrisers Hyderabad and could end up playing for one of the two new teams.

The deadline for the new teams to sign three players in December 25 and then the mega auction is expected to happen. The date for mega auction isn’t officially announced yet but it could happen in January 2022.