IPL Mega Auction Explained: Date, format, categories, budget, base price and more

The annual IPL auction is a staple of the Indian Premier League calendar and enables teams to enhance their squads with domestic and overseas players.

This year the auction is of greater significance as the IPL conducts a mega auction, which takes place every three years as the 10 IPL franchises assemble their squads for 2025 until 2027.

Teams will bid for star players but only have a restricted budget to work with, making the auction a fascinating spectacle.

Here's all of the key information about the IPL mega auction, including how players are purchased and the criteria teams must follow.

IPL Mega Auction date and venue

The 2025 IPL mega auction will take place on the 24th and 25th November in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

IPL Mega Auction format

Like the process of any other auction, the players that are available are sold to the highest bidder, as per the IPL rules and regulations regarding the formation of squads.

One by one, the auctioneer will present a player for sale and each franchise will have the opportunity to submit an offer. The auctioneer will continue to accept any offers until he declares that the player is sold.

The auction will continue until each franchise has finalised their respective squads.

IPL Mega Auction registered players

A total of 1,574 players (1,165 Indian and 409 overseas) had registered for this year's auction and the total can vary for each season.

With each franchise permitted to have a squad of 25 players and some teams opting to retain personnel, there are only 204 slots available for the 2025 IPL campaign, meaning a significant number will be left unsold.

IPL Mega Auction categories

The players in the auction are separated into three categories: domestic capped, domestic uncapped and overseas.

Each team is permitted a maximum of eight overseas players in their squad.

Domestic Capped: Indian players who have represented the country's senior team in any format at least once.

Domestic Uncapped: Indian domestic players who are in the first-class circuit but have never represented the country's senior team.

Overseas: Players not from India who are either capped or uncapped.

IPL Mega Auction budget

Each franchise in the IPL receives a budget of Rs 120 Crore (120,000,000 Indian Rupee) to create their squads.

Prior to the auction, the IPL permits each franchise to retain a maximum of six players, of which a maximum of five can be capped and a maximum of two can be uncapped.

The cost to retain each player is detracted from their budget for the auction.

IPL Mega Auction base prices

Each player in the auction will have a base price.

This is the minimum price from which the bidding will start for the relevant player and no individual can be sold for less than their base price.

The base price is decided by the players themselves. Capped players, both Indian and overseas, are permitted to quote a base price no higher than Rs 2 crores while uncapped players have the option of pricing themselves at Rs 10lakhs, Rs 20 lakhs or Rs 30 lakhs.

IPL Mega Auction RTM (Right-to-Match) cards

Franchises have the option to buy back players they owned in the previous season by utilising the Right-to-Match card.

If a player has been purchased by another franchise at the mega auction, the franchise he was a member of in the previous season can step in at the end of the bidding process and buy back their player using the RTM option by matching the highest bid.

The other team has the opportunity to increase their offer, though the players' previous team will be given the option to equal their bid.

Each franchise has as many as five RTM cards available during the auction.

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