Explaining the IPL Auction 2025 Rules: RTM Card, Accelerated Auction, and Base Price Process - Here's What You Need to Know

The highly anticipated mega auction for the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is scheduled to commence on Sunday, November 24, but this time with a unique twist. Surpassing expectations, the auction will take place in the vibrant city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, marking only the second occasion that an IPL auction will be held outside the boundaries of India. The previous instance occurred in 2024 when Dubai hosted the auction, adding a touch of international flair to the cricketing extravaganza.

A total of 574 players will go under the hammer on Sunday and Monday. The list includes as many as 48 capped Indians, where all eyes will be on India stars Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, all of whom are in the INR 2 crore list. The list also comprises 193 capped international players.

However, with the 10 franchises retaining a total of 46 players, only 2-04 slots will be filled during the two-day mega event, with teams having a cap of just 25 players in a squad. The rule also specifies that each squad can only comprise eight overseas players, implying only 70 international cricketers will be fortunate to grab an IPL contract on November 24 and 25.

The IPL Governing Council reintroduced the Right-To-Match card after it was last used in the mega auction in 2018. It will allow franchises to retain one of the players they had released at the auction, provided they did not retain a full quota of six players.

Based on the rule, a franchise can use the option to match the highest bid for the player at the auction, who was part of their squad in the previous season. However, in a major twist for this edition of the auction, IPL will allow the team placing the original bid on the player to go one bid higher after the RTM card is used. If the franchise then considers to match the higher bid at the auction, they will retain the player, or else the player will join the team placing the original bid.

Only Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders won't be allowed to use the RTM at this auction.

The IPL auction process will begin with two marquee sets, comprising six players each. The first set has three overseas players, while the next has just two. But all eyes will be on Pant and Iyer, both part of the opening set, while Rahul is in the second set.

The marquee sets will be followed by a list of capped players based on their specialisations: batters, all-rounders, wicketkeepers, fast bowlers, and spinners. That will be followed by uncapped players, again based on their specialisations.

The process will eventually end with the accelerated auction.

Despite 574 players being shortlisted for the auction list, every player is unlikely to go under the hammer. The accelerated auction process will hence begin after the 116th player, making Ricky Bhui (117th), part of the second list of uncapped players, will be the first player as part of the accelerated auction process.

This part of the auction will be held in two parts. In the first, all franchises will be asked to list their preferred players - from 117 to 574 - to be presented during the accelerated auction process. The second part will comprise all players on the list who were either not sold or not presented during the first accelerated auction process.