What is the Right to Match (RTM) Card in IPL?

The player auctions in the Indian Premier League (IPL) are always filled with intense bidding wars and a lot of drama. Franchises go all out to acquire the services of the best T20 cricketers.

There’s one more thing that further fuels the auctions. What’s that?

We are talking about the Right to Match (RTM) card used by franchises during the auction.

But what’s the RTM card? When is it used? What are the rules?

Let’s understand the Right to Match card used in the IPL auction here.

What is the RTM card in IPL?

The Right to Match card comes into the picture when mega auctions take place in the IPL. 

As you must be aware, franchises can retain a few players before the auction takes place. Teams look to retain the core of their squad and try to pouch new talent in the auction.

But sometimes a franchise may want to bring back a player who they couldn’t retain before the auction due to team or financial dynamics. That’s when they can use the RTM card for this purpose.

The RTM card gives the IPL franchises the option of re-signing a player during the auction. The only condition is the player must have been part of their previous season’s squad.

So when a franchise can use the RTM card?

The IPL Governing Council has introduced new rules regarding the RTM card ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.

A franchise can exercise their right to re-acquire a player in the auction after the bidding stops and no other franchise is putting any bids. 

The team holding the RTM for a particular player will be asked if they want to use the option. If they want to go ahead, then they can get back the player by matching the highest bid price raised by the other competing franchise.

But according to the new rules, the highest bidder has the option to further increase the price after the player’s previous team agrees to use RTM.

To make it simple for you, let’s look at an example.

Suppose Rajasthan Royals (RR) couldn’t retain Yuzvendra Chahal ahead of the auction. But now they want to buy him back in the auction.

So they can either bid on him or buy back him when the bidding stops. The auctioneer will ask RR management if they want to use RTM for Chahal.

If they do, then the other franchise, say Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), that put in the highest bid will have the chance to further raise their bid. Here, RCB can also choose not to increase the bid further.

Say the bidding stops at INR 5 crore and RR agrees to use the RTM, then RCB can increase the bid to INR 8 crore.

Now if RR wants to buy back Chahal at this price, they can re-sign him, and if they don’t, then they can let go of him.

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