BCCI prioritizes Indian players in significant IPL auction ruling, foreign stars hit a roadblock

The IPL Governing Council unveiled key updates for the highly anticipated mega-auction for the 2025 edition of the tournament. They solidified their guidelines on player retentions in preparation for the upcoming auction.

One of the major changes, especially for premium overseas players, was also announced as a by-law for the auction. The GC announced that the salaries for overseas players will be capped at the maximum that the highest-earning Indian player receives during the auction.

For example, if the most expensive Indian player is sold for over INR 18 cr, this will be at the highest retention band of 18cr. If no Indian player is sold for over that number, the overseas player earning cap will be the second highest retention band, that is INR 16 cr.

The highest price in the auction and the highest retention amount for Indian players will be taken into consideration — whichever of the two values is lower will provide the cap for overseas player.

In simpler words, if the most expensive Indian player in the auction is sold for INR 20 cr, overseas players can still be sold for more. However, if an overseas player earns INR 21 cr, they will only receive 18 cr, while 3 cr will be reverted to the BCCI. The team that purchases the overseas player will still lose 21 cr from their purse.

The GC has announced that while bidding for overseas players will not be interrupted and allowed to grow organically, affecting team purses as per its true value, the excess value will be deducted from the player and returned to the BCCI for player development and welfare.

This is one of the moves the IPL GC has put in place to curb overseas stars from earning inordinate amounts via the mini-auction the following year, when the smaller auction and scarcity of players shoots up the value of overseas stars. Another rule is that if an overseas player wishes to enter the 2026 IPL auction, they must also have been a part of the 2025 auction.

This is one of the key financial decisions announced by the IPL GC with regards to player salaries and welfare, with the other being the introduction of a set match fee for both Indian and overseas players, of INR 7.5 lakh per appearance.