Reports: IPL Franchises to submit player retention list to BCCI by November 30

In what can be called a major development, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly confirmed that the eight existing Indian Premier League (IPL) teams can retain a maximum of four players ahead of the auction. At the same time, the two new sides will be allowed to have three players outside of the bidding event.

For the unversed, IPL is set to expand in 2022 with two new teams coming into the picture. Hence, one will see 10 teams battling it out for the prestigious title. A mega auction is also set to take place ahead of the competition which would see many teams going under major revamps. While an official announcement is yet to come, the existing franchises will reportedly be able to retain four players heading into the auction event.

Existing 8 teams can retain up to four players

“The 8 existing team will first get the opportunity to retain a maximum of 4 Players and thereafter the 2 new teams will be able to retain a maximum of 3 players before the auction,” the BCCI said in a mail to the franchises on Saturday afternoon (October 30), Cricbuzz reported.

The report further claimed that the franchises will have to give the retention list by November 30. Once the retained players are confirmed, the new teams will have the option to bag players before the auction event. Also, the salary purse of each team for IPL 2022 will be a whopping INR 90 crore.

“The window for the 8 existing teams to retain the players will be from the 1st November 2021 to 30th November 2021. Thereafter the 2 new teams will have the window to retain the players starting from 1st December 2021 to 25th December 2021,” the mail read further.

Meanwhile, the names of the other two teams are yet to be finalized. However, the base cities and franchise owners are confirmed. While Sanjiv Goenka’s RPSG Group successfully bid for the Lucknow franchise, CVC Capitals Partners claimed the Ahmedabad-based team. With firms and organizations breaking their banks to become a part of IPL, BCCI earned a whopping INR 12,690 crore from the two new franchises. Notably, IPL is set to become a 10-team event for the first time since 2013.