IPL Stars Seek INR 40 Crore Retentions Ahead Of Next Mega Auction: Report

Talks before next month’s mini auction have been messy. The bigger test may come later, when franchises shift to the next IPL cycle and next year’s mega auction, with elite players reportedly asking for INR 40 crore to remain with their teams.

Retaining some marquee players may prove difficult. A few players are believed to have already set much higher financial terms for staying on, and more could follow if they think the auction will bring them bigger deals.

Auction Precedent And Captaincy

There is already a clear precedent.

Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant both entered the 2025 mega auction after refusing retention from their then teams. Iyer landed INR 26.75 crore and Pant secured INR 27 crore, showing that players can back themselves to do better in the open market.

One case carries an added twist. The money ask is also tied to captaincy, so franchises may have to balance leadership plans against the salary bill.

Purse And Retention Slabs

The purse math is central.

Pant’s INR 27 crore deal was struck when franchises had a total purse of INR 120 crore. Next year’s mega auction is expected to come with a purse of about INR 150 crore, in line with the regular upward revisions described in the report.

At that level, an INR 40 crore retention would take up a little over a quarter of a franchise's purse. That is still a heavy commitment, especially for teams that want to hold on to more than one big player.

The purse has climbed steadily since the IPL began. Teams had INR 20 crore in 2008, then INR 60 crore in 2014, INR 80 crore in 2018, INR 90 crore in 2022 and INR 120 crore in 2025. It has now gone up to INR 130 crore for the 2027 season, and the report said a move to about INR 150 crore for the next mega auction looks likely, though no one has discussed or confirmed that figure yet.

Media rights drive the purse. IPL franchise budgets have usually moved with the value of the league's media rights, and another rise is likely when the next rights cycle is sold next year.

Retention slabs will also shape decisions. For the previous mega auction, the BCCI prescribed slabs of INR 18 crore, INR 14 crore and INR 11 crore. Franchises could still pay more if they declared the actual figures. Heinrich Klaasen commanded INR 23 crore and Nicholas Pooran was paid INR 21 crore.

The deduction rule added another layer. Under the BCCI's rules for the previous mega auction, a franchise that retained five players had INR 75 crore deducted from its purse regardless of the individual sums paid. "If the combined amount exceeded INR 75 crore, the actual amount was deducted. If it was lower, the deduction remained INR 75 crore."

Retention Debate Revisited

The retention model itself has been debated.

Ahead of the previous mega auction, there was a suggestion to scrap retention and rely only on Right to Match options so that the auction could set a player's market value. Supporters argued that this would stop franchises from locking themselves into inflated retention deals.

There was a pushback too. The counter-view was that teams expecting to use RTM could drive up bids in the auction, which may not reflect a player's true market value. Retention also runs deep in the IPL system, making a full shift away from it harder because it has been part of the league's auction structure since the start.

An INR 40 crore deal is not impossible. Lucknow Super Giants had arranged their purse in a way that allowed them to bid up to INR 27 crore for Pant at the 2025 mega auction, while Iyer's final price was INR 26.75 crore.

That leaves room for bigger numbers if the overall purse rises again at the start of the next cycle. Even then, any move in the INR 40 crore range will depend on the retention rules, how many players a franchise wants to keep and how much of its purse it is willing to commit to one player.