IPL 2022 Auction: Franchises can retain 4 players; Lucknow and Ahmedabad to get 3 early picks - Report

Things would get interesting as the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) would see the mega auction, likely to take place in January. Also, with a couple of new teams (Ahmedabad and Lucknow) set to take part, the auction pool would become even more competitive, with more players getting sold.

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Meanwhile, as far as the already existing franchises are concerned, they would be given a chance to retain some players. As per ESPNCricinfo, a maximum of four players can be retained by the side. The combination could be three Indians and an overseas player, or a couple of Indians and overseas each. As for the Indians being retained, it could all be capped, uncapped, or both.

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Interestingly, there would be no right-to-match (RTM) cards this term. As far as the total auction purse per side is concerned, it is likely to be ₹90 crore, which is ₹5 crore more than the previous term. Although the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has yet to announce the retention rules officially, it has been informally communicated to all the franchises.

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In the meantime, the two new sides would be at an advantage at the start of the auction. The report states that Ahmedabad and Lucknow would pick three players early: two Indians and an overseas player. However, it is unclear if they would be from the list of non-retained players or the complete pool of auction, which would consist of all the registered players.

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Also, if that happens to be the case, a draft system could be put in place, during which the highest-placed bid team during the team auction (Ahmedabad in this case) would get to choose the first player. A similar system was used in 2016 when Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) and Gujarat Lions (GL) were registered to play the tournament for a suspended Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), as the former had picked MS Dhoni from CSK.

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However, the final choice of retention would lie with the player. If he does not wish to be retained, he is free to enter the auction pool. Meanwhile, November is likely to be the deadline for retentions. Also, it must be noted that the auction purse would be affected based on the number of retentions made by the side.