No retention but eight RTM cards: KKR's suggestion ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction
Published - 29 May 2024, 03:25 PM | Updated - 29 May 2024, 03:27 PM
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Ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) CEO Venky Mysore has come up with a suggestion that would allow the teams to retain the core of the team as well as let the players earn big contracts in the auction.
The teams will be undergoing a major revamp ahead of the next season as they will have to release most of their players. While it will be an opportunity for underperforming teams to rebuild their squads, the settled teams such as KKR are more than likely to rue it. In the previous mega auctions, the teams were not allowed to retain more than 3-5 players.
For the upcoming auction, the number is still not confirmed. And while only time will reveal the retention rules for the franchise, Venky Mysore has suggested that the teams should have as many as eight Right to Match (RTM) retention cards.
Venky Mysore's suggestion ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction
Veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle revealed Mysore's suggestion in a video posted on his YouTube channel. Over the years, there has been a notion that most of the players would have liked to get into the auction pool instead of being retained by the franchises. It would have fetched them a bigger contract and Mysore's suggestion might just solve the issue for the players as well as the franchise.
The players will be able to participate in the auction while the franchises will have the opportunity to buy them back through the RTM card. For the uninitiated, the RTM card allows a team to purchase an unretained player who played for them in the previous edition. The franchise needs to match the highest bid for the player in order to sign him up.
"Venky Mysore of KKR has come up with a workable suggestion which is that you should be allowed to retain players if they have a fair market value. So no retentions but eight Right to Match cards," said Bhogle.
The teams were not allowed to use the RTM cards in the last mega auction in 2022 since two new teams - Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants - were added to the league. However, the teams used the RTM cards in the 2014 and 2018 mega auctions.
