Heaping praise on Irfan Pathan, IPL imposes two-year ban on players who declare unavailable after auction

New Delhi (India), September 29 (ANI): In a significant move that could reshape the dynamics of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has introduced a new rule that implements two rules: Declaring unavailability after being selected in the auction Players who do so will be banned for one year.

This development was welcomed by the cricket community and former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan expressed his approval of X.

Pathan, who has been raising this issue for the last two years, pointed out the increasing strength and integrity of the IPL with this new arrangement.

“I have continued to talk about this for the last two years. It is great to see the decision taken by the BCCI! Players who declare themselves unavailable after being selected in the auction will now face a two-year ban. The IPLs are going from strength to strength in many ways.” This rule is intended to address concerns about players withdrawing from the tournament after the auction; This often causes teams to have difficulty finding suitable substitute players. This step is expected to increase players’ loyalty to the franchises that invest in them and provide a more reliable and competitive tournament.

The IPL governing council on Saturday rolled out major updates for the 2025 season, including an increased retention limit, the return of the Right to Match (RTM) option and a higher bidding purse, according to ESPNcricinfo.

Franchises can now retain up to six players each with the RTM option reactivated, and the Impressive Player rule will remain in effect.

The auction purse for the upcoming mega auction has been increased to INR 120 billion (approximately USD 14.33 million), an increase of INR 20 billion compared to the previous year.

According to ESPNcricinfo, finalized retention rules will soon be shared with ten franchises. Specifically, at least one of the six players franchises can retain must be an unrestricted Indian player.

The other five could be Indian or foreign players. Retention can be through outright retention, a mix of retention and RTM, or solely through RTM options. (MOMENT)