The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction is reportedly set to be held in November before ICC’s chairman-elect Jay Shah takes over his new role on December 1.
Shah is currently BCCI secretary and will continue even after the next board’s annual general meeting on September 29.
Per Cricbuzz, London or UAE are the potential locations for the event. The BCCI has yet to issue an official update regarding the venue.
If IPL 2025 auction is held abroad, it will not be the first instance of an IPL auction taking place outside India. The IPL 2024 “mini auction” was held in Dubai. However, this would be the first time a mega auction of IPL is conducted overseas.
Recent reports also suggest that BCCI has asked all franchises to submit their lists of retained and released players by November 15, with the auction likely to occur at the end of the year.
Big names such as former Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, and Suryakumar Yadav are rumored to be part of the auction pool.
Much like the auctions in February 2022 and December 2023 and 2024, the upcoming IPL 2025 mega auction is expected to be a two-day event.
In the 2022 mega auction, franchises could retain up to four players. There were discussions about potentially increasing this cap to eight players, with some teams supporting the change, while others preferred to maintain the existing limit of four or five.
Meanwhile, the lack of clear communication from the BCCI has reportedly left the franchises worried about several issues if the mega auction is held overseas.
“It’s not just about the players we want to retain. We also need time to prepare for the auction once the final retention list is ready,” a franchise official told Telegraph India.
The BCCI was scheduled to announce the retention rules late last month following their meeting with the franchise owners in Mumbai. The subsequent delay forced some of the franchises to seek clarification from the BCCI on the causes for the delay.
The number of retentions could be as high as six with the franchises given the option of at least two Right to Match cards, sources revealed to the daily. The final nitty-gritties are still being worked out.
The BCCI is believed to be still uncertain about the much-debated move of classifying retired internationals as uncapped players. Whether this move will affect the franchise players’ purse is a matter of contention.
If it materialises, Mahendra Singh Dhoni could remain with CSK as an uncapped player without affecting their auction purse.
A final decision will be taken after an IPL governing council meeting.
