We are inching closer to the biggest IPL Auction in a decade. Earlier this month, the IPL Governing Council penned down the Player Retention policy, salary cap and franchise squad size for the upcoming season. With 182 slots to be filled and 578 players to choose from, the eight teams will have plenty on their mind when they gather in Bengaluru on 27th and 28th January for Vivo IPL Auction 2018.

As a part of the player retention policy, a team can secure 5 players which will be through a combination of pre-auction (player retention) and during the auction process (right to match). 18 players were retained by the franchises as a part of the player retention.

Mumbai Indians retained captain Rohit Sharma, versatile all-rounder Hardik Pandya, and the yorker king Jasprit Bumrah. Since we’ve already retained 3 players, we can apply right to match for 2 players during the auction process. There are teams who retained less than 3 players, so they are eligible to apply right to match on up to 3 players when the auction commences on 27th January.

Talking about the strength of a squad, each team can have a maximum of 25 players and a minimum of 18 players. A team can acquire the services of up to 8 overseas players.

The salary cap of players varies and depends on whether a player has played International cricket (capped player) or is an upcoming talent who is yet to represent his country (uncapped player). The base price of an uncapped player (irrespective of the nationality) starts from INR 20 Lacs and goes up to INR 40 Lacs while the base price of a capped player (again, irrespective of the nationality) varies from INR 50 Lacs to a maximum of INR 2 Cr.

By the end of this weekend, the final squads will be formed, and we would know the strengths and weaknesses of each team. The focus will move to preparing hard for the Vivo IPL 2018 Season. We can’t wait!