Watch: MS Dhoni Lands in India as BCCI Set to Announce IPL Retention Rule

Amidst various media reports claiming BCCI could soon reveal the player retention rules ahead of the next IPL auction, a clip of the legendary MS Dhoni returning to India from vacation has been doing the rounds on social media. Earlier this month, the legendary cricketer was spotted at an NFL game in Michigan (USA) alongside his friends.

There are speculations over Dhoni’s IPL future as he had stepped down from the Chennai Super Kings captaincy earlier this year with Ruturaj Gaikwad taking over the reins.

Also Read: Players Each Franchise Could Retain Ahead of IPL Auction

As per The Indian Express, the BCCI could allow each of the 10 IPL franchises to retain as many as five players to make their lives a tad easier.

The BCCI met with the IPL owners earlier this year to take their feedback on the player retention rules. However, there were major differences between the franchise owners with few wanting more retentions as they didn’t want to let go of their star players citing continuity.

“The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Wednesday organised a constructive dialogue with the owners of the 10 franchises on various subjects pertaining to the upcoming season of the IPL,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in August.

“The franchise owners tabled feedback on player regulations and other commercial aspects, including central merchandising, licensing, and gaming. The BCCI will now take these recommendations to the IPL Governing Council for further deliberation and evaluation before formulating the IPL player regulations,” he added.

Additionally, there won’t be a Right to Match (RTM) card that allowed a franchise to buy back a player they’d released into the auction pool by paying the winning bid amount. What this means is that it will be a mega auction meaning the teams squads could look quite different from what they were in IPL 2024.

Kolkata Knight Riders, the defending IPL champions, were reportedly not in favour of a mega auction and found support from the likes of CSK, Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals.