There’s a lot for us to digest here. A mix of retentions and Right To Match (RTM) cards, the change in the RTM rules, the purse, the deductions, the uncapped player rule. Confused? Don’t worry, we have you covered. 

Retentions/RTMs, what’s the split?

The magic number is six. Every franchise can either retain before the auction, or RTM during the auction, a maximum of six players. A maximum of five out of these six players can be capped (Indian or overseas), and a maximum of two can be uncapped. The total purse this time around is at INR 120 crores for each team.

Okay, how do retentions work?

Every uncapped player will cost the team INR 4cr from their purse.

Scenario 1: A team retains 6 players (5 capped + 1 uncapped)

In this case, a total of INR 79 crores will be deducted from the purse and the team will have INR 41 crores to spend on the auction table. Having retained six players, they will also have no RTMs.

Scenario 2: A team retains 5 players (4 capped + 1 uncapped)

A total of INR 65 crores will be deducted from the purse and the team will have INR 55 crores to spend on the auction table. Having retained five players, they will also have one RTM to try and bring back another of their current players when he comes up at the auction.

And what if a team pays a player over or under their retained value?

For each of the above mentioned scenarios, the auction purses deductions that are cited are the minimum that it would be. It could go change further, for example, a team could choose to pay Retained Player 1 INR 20 crores -- above his bracketed value -- and therefore have an additional INR 2 crores cut from their purse.

But say if a team decides to pay Retained Player 1 INR 15 crores – under his bracketed value – they would have INR 18 crores cut from their auction purse.

Got it. What’s the new RTM rule then?

Let’s do it with an example: Say a player (Player X), currently with team A, comes into the auction. The highest bid he receives is from team B of 6cr INR. Now, should team A choose to use their RTM on X, team B will get a chance to increase his price to a level they like. Say they choose a price of 10cr INR. Now, if team A wants him, they use their RTM card and grab player X at 10cr, else, he goes to team B at 10cr INR. 

Super. I’m already excited! What’s the deadline then for the teams to announce their retention list?

October 31, 2024, 5pm IST. And any player who gets capped before this date, will be considered a capped player.