RCB Star Fires 68-Ball Century In Ranji Trophy, Sends Loud Retention Message To Franchise

Rajat Patidar led Madhya Pradesh's fightback against Harayana on Day 4 of their Ranji Trophy 2024-25 match in Indore. Patidar slammed an unbeaten century to help MP recover after Harayana had taken a 132-run lead in the first innings. With the Indian Premier League (IPL) retention deadline on October 31, Patidar reached triple figures in just 68 balls to send a loud and clear message to his franchise, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), who are yet to finalise their list of retained players.

With all 10 teams allowed to retain a maximum of six players, RCB have only finalised the retention of star batter and former captain Virat Kohli. In fact, even RCB captain Faf du Plessis' future remains a mystery. 

Teams have until October 31 to finalise their player retentions ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. According to the rules announced by the governing council on Saturday, franchises can retain a maximum of six players using a combination of direct retentions and the right-to-match (RTM) option. 

This includes up to five capped players (both Indian and overseas) and no more than two uncapped Indian players, as reported by ESPNcricinfo. For retention purposes, any player who makes their international debut before October 31 will be classified as capped. 

However, if such a player is retained as an uncapped player and then debuts internationally before the auction, they will still be considered uncapped, with only INR 4 crore deducted from the team's auction purse.

The purse for the mega auction has been increased by INR 20 crore, giving each franchise a budget of INR 120 crore (approximately USD 14.3 million).

As with the mega auction before IPL 2022, the price for retaining uncapped players remains set at INR 4 crore.