The development, it is learned, is yet to be formally shared with the ten IPL franchises who continue to await the final retention rules ahead of the mega auction in which squads for the 2025 season will be picked.

If a player features in all 14 of his team’s league matches, he will stand to earn INR 1.05 crore (US$ 125,000 approx.) as match fees for the season. This would represent a significant increase in earnings particularly for players signed at or near their base price at the auction. At the 2024 auction, the lowest base price was INR 20 lakh (US$ 24,000 approx.) for uncapped players, and INR 50 lakh (US$ 60,000 approx.) for capped players.

If franchises had paid out match fees in IPL 2024, a prominent beneficiary would have been the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Rajat Patidar, who was first signed as an uncapped player for his base price of INR 20 lakh, and then had his salary bumped up to INR 50 lakh when he won his India cap. Patidar played 15 matches during IPL 2024, which means he would have earned an additional INR 1.125 crore for the season if match fees had been in place.