In an interesting move, the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council has announced player regulation rules for IPL 2025-27.
The regulation includes a ban on players and mandatory registration for overseas players in mega auctions.
Let’s understand these IPL player regulation rules here.
Mandatory Auction Registration for Overseas Players
The IPL will host a mega auction ahead of the 2025 season, and the Governing Council has made it mandatory for overseas players to register for it.
If any overseas player doesn’t register for the mega auction, he won’t be eligible for the next season’s mini-auction.
Why is this done?
The IPL and franchise owners observed a growing trend of overseas players skipping mega auctions and only registering for mini auctions. This skyrocketed the bidding wars between franchises, given teams looking to fix holes by getting the big stars.
The IPL Auction 2024 saw some crazy bidding over foreign players, with Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins shattering records. Both players fetched over INR 20 crore as Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad pouched them in intense battles.
A Maximum Fee for Overseas Stars in Mega Auctions
Apart from the mandatory registration, the IPL has also implemented a “maximum fee” rule for overseas players in mini auctions.
Now, what’s that?
Under this rule, the overseas players will only earn a certain capped fee even if franchises bid for them above that limit. The overseas player’s fee can’t be more than the highest retention fee (INR 18 crore) for IPL 2025 and the highest auction price in the mega auction.
So an overseas player can’t earn more than INR 18 crore even if the highest bid is, say, INR 24 crore in the mega auction. But if the highest bid is INR 15 crore in the mega auction, then the maximum cap will be INR 15 crore.
But teams can still bid above the maximum capped fee until the player is sold. And the surplus amount above the maximum fee will go towards BCCI’s player welfare program.
Ban for Withdrawing from the IPL
After bagging a deal in the auction, any player can’t withdraw from the tournament. If any player pulls out of the IPL before the season, they will face a ban on participating in the league and auction for 2 seasons.
Why this move?
This move prevents players from suddenly withdrawing ahead of the new season, except for any injury-related issues.
In the past, franchises have faced issues with players pulling out at the last moment citing personal or workload issues. This ruins the squad’s composition, leaving teams looking for replacements at short notice.
But players who withdraw from the season due to injury or medical issues will be exempt from this rule after confirming the same with their home boards.
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