Rahul Dravid will be back with the Rajasthan Royals. Source (X)
In all likelihood, the IPL will allow four retentions and two RTMs (Right to Match) for the 2025 mega auction, RevSportz understands. The franchises have been waiting for the IPL to finalise the retention rules and accordingly, they will take a call on retaining their players.
The RTM rule allows a franchise to buy back a player by matching the highest bid at the auction. It was first introduced in 2014. With the mega auction coming up, franchises will offload a number of players. Some of them will return to the fold through the RTMs.
“We still don’t know what the retention rule would be like, whether it is three or four or five,” Sanjiv Goenka, the Lucknow Super Giants owner, had said at an event in Kolkata last week. “Only after the BCCI finalises it, we will decide on our retentions. We still have enough time.”
It was dittoed by a Rajasthan Royals insider, who spoke about how it would be wrong to speculate the team’s retention policy before hearing from the BCCI. Unlike LSG, where there’s an uncertainty over KL Rahul’s future, Royals are in a stable space as far as captaincy is concerned. Sanju Samson will continue to lead the side.
Four retentions and two RTMs will allow the franchises to retain their core group of players. Then again, the RTM rule has its critics as well. Ravichandran Ashwin, for example, is not a fan of the rule. “If a franchise has released a player because they don’t see him in their top four or five, then what gives them the right to jump in during an auction?” Ashwin had said on Krishnamachari Srikkanth’s YouTube show Cheeky Cheeka. “There should be a contract binding the two parties, which says he can be RTM-ed only if the price is X amount, and leave that predetermined amount to be decided by the player.”
Royals bags ‘the best’, Dravid
Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid is set to join Royals as their head coach and according to a source, the reason why the franchise turned to him was that they wanted “the best in class”. Dravid, whose tenure as India coach ended after the T20 World Cup in June, had led Royals in 2012 and 2013 before working as the team mentor for two more seasons. Sanju, the current captain, came through the ranks under his watch.
“More than half the franchises are looking out for coaches,” said the source. “Royals wanted the best and Dravid, a World Cup-winning coach, was available.”
It is learnt that the franchise expects Kumar Sangakkara to continue as its director of cricket. Under Sangakkara, Royals have become one of the consistent teams in the IPL, playing the final in 2022 and qualifying for the playoffs this year. The aim now is to reach the next level and win the trophy. Royals haven’t won the IPL after their triumph in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2008 under the legendary Shane Warne.
As new players will come via the mega auction, Dravid is considered to be the best person to gel the side.
