IPL 2014: All You Need to Know About the Rules and Regulations for Player Auction

MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma with the IPL trophy [iplt20.com] iplt20.com

Another exhilarating season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be underway this year. Now in its seventh season, the IPL certainly has managed to give the cricket fans all over the world a reason to unite and cheer and watch their favourite team battle it out to lift the trophy.

But before the adrenalin begins to pump on the pitch, teams are busy preparing their strategies alongside the owners and managers who come together after intense planning, loaded vast amounts of money to buy players in a bid to reign supreme amongst the rivals.

IBTimes UK takes a look at how the player auction for the 2014 edition of the IPL will take place on February 12 and 13, 2014, at Bangalore, India.

The eight teams competing in the IPL this year are as follows,

Mumbai Indians (MI) [Winners – IPL 2013]
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Rajasthan Royals (RR)
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SH)
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP)
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Delhi Daredevils (DD)

Pune Warriors India will not be contesting in this year's IPL as a result of their termination due to non-submission of bank guarantee.

IPL 2014 Auction

IPL T20 — Indian Premier League [Reuters]

Some significnat changes have come into effect from the previous editions for this year's tournament.

Unlike the previous six seasons, players will now be valued in Rupees (INR) instead of Dollars ($) and each player's salary will also be deemed in the Indian currency.

A total of 514 players will be up for grabs between eight franchisees competing this year. Some of these players include stellar names in the Cricket arena like Jacques Kallis, Mahela Jayawardene, Yuvraj Singh and the recently sacked English international Kevin Pietersen.

Also Read IPL 2014 Player Auctions: All You Need to Know

Breaking up the total number of players into capped and uncapped players, there figures indicate 219 and 292 respectively. Out of the total number of uncapped players, 255 come from India while 37 players hail from overseas.

The capped list features 169 Indians and 50 overseas players amongst which 13 players hail from England including former Pakistani cricketer Azhar Mahmood, who received British citizenship in 2011.

Seven England cricketers including Craig Kieswetter, Simon Jones, Jade Dernbach, Rikki Clarke, Samit Patel, Alex Hales and Ian Bell will be making playing in the tournament for the first time

The list of 514 also includes three players from Associate nations, Niall O'Brien and Kevin O'Brien from Ireland and Ryan Ten Doeschate from Netherlands.

See the Full list of players who will go under the hammer during the auction.

Squad Composition

Each squad must contain at least 16 players but cannot exceed 27. (Last year, the maximum number of players permitted to be in the squad was 33)

Out of the total number of players in the squad, only a maximum of nine foreign players (Reduced by two from the previous year) can be included while the rest must be an Indian nationality.

On a matchday, each team must feature at least seven Indians among the 11 players taking the field.

Under-19 players will be eligible to play in the IPL if they have played First Class Cricket or in the List A.

The Salary Cap for IPL league fees of the entire squad will be Rs. 60 crore for 2014, increasing by 5% pa for 2015 & 2016.

Franchises must at least spendspend of Rs. 36 crore on their squad in each of the 2014, 2015 & 2016 seasons.

Player Contracts

A player will be eligible to play for a franchise for duration of one year with an option to further extend his contract for either one or two years more. However, the extension must be availed on or before 15 December, each year.

Since the IPL league fee for all players will be denominated in Indian Rupees, overseas players will be played in the currency of their choice at the prevailing exchange rate on either the actual date of payment or the due date of contract, whichever is beneficial to the player.

Player Retention

Teams were allowed to retain only five players in their squad from the previous campaign. It does not matter whether the players have played for their countries, but the contingents cannot re-sign more than four players capped Indian players.

The player retention took place last month and a total of 24 players were secured by their respective franchisees. Find out which players were retained by their team – IPL Player Retention 2014

Right to Match (RTM)

A new feature has been added to the existing player auction system for the IPL this year. Depending on the number of players retained before the auction, teams will be allowed to redeem their RTM when the players go under the hammer.

No. of players retained - No. of "rights to match" available during the auction

5 - 1

4 - 1

3 - 1

2 - 2

1 - 2

0 - 3

How can RTM be exercised?
A player can be brought back by the franchise if he was a part of their squad during last year's tournament. However, the option can be effective only after the player is declared as "sold" to another franchisee during the auction process. The auctioneer can then ask the concerned franchise if they would utilize their 'right to match' claim.

If the franchise confirms with an affirmation, the player will be a part of their squad for the amount at which he was sold in the final bid; with no further possibility of bidding by the other franchises for that player.

IPL T20 2013 — Chris Gayle will once again feature in the RCB colours. [IPLt20.com] IPLt20.com

Additional to the RTM, is the rule that no team will be allowed to purchase more than four capped Indian players inclusive of the ones retained prior to the auction.

Eg. CSK have already retained four capped Indian players in Ravichandran Ashwin, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina. They are ineligible to redeem the RTM for any other capped Indian player during the auction.

Salary Cap for 2014 Player Auction

For Capped Players