The Indian premier League has always been a hot topic among cricket fans and they are always excited and eager to learn about the game. Among such curious topics, uncapped players also remain on top. Ever wondered what it means to be an “uncapped player” in cricket Indian Premier League (IPL)? Basically it is a player who has not played international cricket for its home team and has been part of the domestic games like IPL where they are a big deal.
The mega auction for IPL 2025 is a current tea of the town and among the rumors of the retention of players, impact player, salary purse, uncapped players are also in the discussion. Recently the BCCI concluded its annual meet for the IPL discussion which is grabbing all the attention of cricket enthusiasts. Franchises as well as fans are eager to learn about the mega auction rules and more details on the upcoming 18th season of the IPL in 2025.
Today here in this blog we will cover all the details of the What is the Meaning of Uncapped Players in IPL and Current Scenarios for the upcoming IPL 2025 Mega auction. Along with the franchise views on the uncapped players retention and overall stand of the various franchise owners for the upcoming season of the IPL.
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Uncapped Player meaning in IPL
Uncapped players are the players who haven’t been part of the Indian team in case of Indian Cricketers or in general it refers to the players who have not represented their team in International cricket or better who haven’t played international cricket. IPL provides these players a chance to showcase their talent and potential to earn a spot in the national team.
These uncapped players are comparatively cheaper to acquire in the auction pool compared to other capped and overseas players. The IPL has a proven track record of transforming uncapped players to a common household name. For example the recent match scenarios IPL has given the Indian team some of the best players like Abhishek Sharma who was currently part of the Men in Blue squad against Zimbabwe and has performed quite well. Similarly Rituraj Gaikwad and Ravi Bishnoi who were part of the T20 series against Sri Lanka are gaining limelight for their best performances.
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Franchise and their stand on the Uncapped Players
Ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, BCCI has invited Franchises to seek their opinion on the mega auction rules, retention player list, impact player rule , uncapped players, and much more. The meeting with BCCI has come to an end after a long discussion of two hours, where BCCI has heard all the opinions and is now likely to announce its own set of rules for the IPL 2025.
In the meeting a long debate and discussion on player retention took place where all were discussed like how many players should be retained, right to match cards should be made available to franchise or not?
Talking on the same, SRH owner Kavya Maran expressed her view and said that- “Retired players should not be treated as uncapped players while being retained. They should, instead, come to the auction.” Talking more on it she elaborated that the senior players should not be treated as the uncapped players as it reduces their value so let the auction dictate the value and caliber of the retired players, respecting their contribution and value.
Kavya Maran this take on the uncapped players seems to be an indirect indication on the MS Dhoni retention, as CSK proposed the idea of retaining Mahendra Singh Dhoni as uncapped player ahead of the mega auction for the IPL 2025.
Read More:- Will MS Dhoni Play IPL 2025 or Not for CSK
Uncapped Player Rule in IPL
At present the player retention for the uncapped player is kept at two. Teams can retain only two players as uncapped players. Before a Mega auction, each team is allowed to keep up to five players. They can’t retain more than three Indian players or more than two overseas players. Additionally, they can only retain up to two uncapped players.
Uncapped Player Defunct Rule:
As per this rule, teams can retain any Indian player as uncapped players who have retired from international cricket for five or more years. This rule has been eliminated from cricket now, but ahead of the mega auction CSK is demanding to bring back this rule so that it can retain MS Dhoni. Although this rule has never been in the use and was present from 2008 to 2021, But with no use the governing council of the IPL eliminated this rule.
