Some of the biggest Indian players are set to enter the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction pool and reject the chance to be retained by their franchise ahead of the 2025 IPL mega auction due to a significant rule change by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

According to a report by Sportstar And The Hindu, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant respectively as well as star Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav and Punjab Kings' pacer Arshdeep Singh could be part of the auction and not to be retained by the franchise.

The report reveals that from the 2025 season, the actual value a player is retained by the franchise will be deduced from the salary cap. In previous seasons, if a player's retention price exceeded the designated price for the slot, the lesser amount was deducted from the salary cap. However, this amount if the retention amount is higher than the salary cap then the 'higher of the two' amounts will be deducted.

This means that a team will find it difficult to pay players higher salaries than the slot values of Rs. 18, 14, and 11 crore ensuring that top players opt to enter the auction.

The same report adds that despite the complication, Mumbai Indians (MI) have found an agreement to retain Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, and Jasprit Bumrah. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are set to retain Heinrich Klaasen for Rs. 23 crores which will mean that they lose an additional five crores from their salary cap.

All 10 IPL franchises have to submit their list of retained players by 31st October. The 2025 mega auction is scheduled to take place in the last week of November with a date and venue yet to be officially announced. An overseas city is likely to host the mega event.

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