IPL 2027 Retentions: What Keeping a Player Really Costs a Franchise
Updated 10 November 2026. One week from today, ten IPL franchises have to decide who stays. Every name on a retention list is a line in a budget: a contract fee, match fees on top, and a slice of a fixed salary cap that can no longer be spent at the auction.
The short answer
Keeping a player in IPL 2027 costs his contract fee plus ₹7.5 lakh for every match he plays, all counted against a fixed ₹157 crore salary cap. Retention lists are due on 17 November. A ₹15 crore player who plays 14 league games costs about ₹16 crore, roughly ₹1.15 crore a match.
IPL 2027 key numbers
Item | Figure | Source |
Retention deadline | 17 Nov 2026 (moved from 15 Nov) | ESPNcricinfo |
Player registration | Opened 2 Nov, closes 23 Nov 2026 | Sportstar |
Auction | 16 Dec 2026, Goa | Sportstar |
Total salary cap per team | ₹157 crore (2027) | IPL Player Regulations 2025-27 |
Match fee | ₹7.5 lakh per match, incl. Impact Player | IPL Player Regulations 2025-27 |
Squad limits | Max 25 players, max 8 overseas | Sportstar |
Biggest trade fee so far | Rishabh Pant, ₹15 crore (LSG → DC) | Sportstar trade tracker |
Sources: IPL Player Regulations 2025-27, ESPNcricinfo, Sportstar auction guide, Sportstar trade tracker.
What are the key IPL 2027 dates?
2 November: player registration opened. It closes on 23 November.
17 November: retention and release lists due. ESPNcricinfo reports the BCCI moved it from 15 November because India play New Zealand in the fifth ODI at Mount Maunganui that day.
16 December: the auction in Goa. Per Sportstar, it is the first in India after three overseas editions, and the last mini-auction before the 2028 mega auction.
How does the IPL salary cap work?
The official IPL Player Regulations 2025-27 replaced the old idea of "purse only" with a total salary cap that includes the auction purse, performance pay and match fees. The cap rises each year:
Two rules make the "real" cost of a player bigger than his headline fee:
Match fee on top: every playing member, including the Impact Player, gets ₹7.5 lakh per match in addition to his contract.
Fixed cap: every rupee committed to a retained player is a rupee that cannot be spent in Goa. Before the 2025 mega auction, the rules even set fixed retention prices (₹18 crore, ₹14 crore and ₹11 crore for the first three capped players, and ₹4 crore for uncapped players) that were deducted from the purse.
What do the IPL 2027 trades tell us?
The trade window shows franchises renegotiating price, not just swapping players. According to the Sportstar trade tracker and the IPL's own announcement of the CSK-SRH deal:
Player | Move | New fee | Note |
Rishabh Pant | LSG → DC | ₹15 crore | Was ₹27 crore at LSG |
Kuldeep Yadav | DC → LSG | ₹13.5 crore | Part of the Pant deal |
Liam Livingstone | SRH → CSK | ₹6 crore | Was ₹13 crore at SRH |
Jack Edwards | SRH → CSK | ₹3 crore | Four-player trade |
Khaleel Ahmed | CSK → SRH | ₹4.8 crore | Four-player trade |
Nathan Ellis | CSK → SRH | ₹2 crore | Four-player trade |
T Natarajan | DC → SRH | ₹5 crore | |
Zeeshan Ansari | SRH → DC | ₹40 lakh |
Page 21 analysis: the cost per match
Headline fees hide the per-game maths. Take Pant at ₹15 crore. If he plays all 14 league matches: ₹15 crore + 14 × ₹7.5 lakh = ₹16.05 crore, or about ₹1.15 crore per league match, and roughly 10% of Delhi's ₹157 crore cap. At his old ₹27 crore fee the same season would have cost about ₹28 crore, or ₹2 crore a match. The lower fee leaves roughly ₹12 crore more cap space to spend in Goa.
This is why trades now come with renegotiated fees: in a mini-auction year there is no retention limit, so the real constraint is cap space. Franchises are paying for flexibility as much as for players. It is the same logic of fixed budgets and broadcast-driven revenue we covered in how JioCinema monetised the IPL, and the economics look familiar to anyone who has read about how US college football became a $20 billion business.
Calculator: what does a player really cost?
What happens next
Lists land on 17 November, registration closes on 23 November, and the auction is on 16 December in Goa. Watch how much cap space each team carries into the auction; it will matter even more because 2027 is the last mini-auction before the 2028 mega auction resets most squads.
FAQ
When is the IPL 2027 retention deadline?
Franchises must submit retention and release lists by 17 November 2026. The BCCI moved it from 15 November because of the India-New Zealand fifth ODI that day (ESPNcricinfo).
When and where is the IPL 2027 auction?
On 16 December 2026 in Goa. Sportstar notes it is the first IPL auction in India after three editions held abroad, and the last mini-auction before the 2028 mega auction.
What is the IPL salary cap for 2027?
Under the official IPL Player Regulations 2025-27, the total salary cap is ₹157 crore for 2027, up from ₹151 crore in 2026 and ₹146 crore in 2025. It includes the auction purse, performance pay and match fees.
How much is the IPL match fee?
₹7.5 lakh per match for each playing member, including the Impact Player, on top of the contract amount, under the 2025-27 regulations.
How many players can a team retain before a mini-auction?
There is no fixed retention limit before a mini-auction, but squads must stay within 25 players, with a maximum of 8 overseas players, and within the salary cap.
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