IPL to ban overseas players for leaving league for national duties.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) governing council has introduced a new policy to put a two-year ban for overseas players who withdraw from the league after being selected in the auction without a proper reason.
This initiative comes in response to repeated complaints from IPL franchises, frustrated by last-minute pullouts that disrupt their squad-building plans.
The new rule was sent to the franchises through a document outlining updated retention rules.
Earlier this year, several English players chose to leave the IPL for national duties, participating a home series against Pakistan in preparation for the 2024 T20 World Cup.
This sparked outrage among IPL owners and Indian media.
According to the document, players will face a ban from participating in the IPL or any future IPL auctions for two seasons if they withdraw after being picked unless they have a legitimate medical reason, which must be verified by their home cricket board.
Also read: CSK’s IPL 2025 retention list: Gaikwad, Jadeja, Pathirana in, Says report
The trigger for this new policy was a request from all ten IPL franchises during a meeting with the IPL governing council in July.
Teams expressed frustration at the way sudden withdrawals of overseas players had left them scrambling to fill gaps in their squads, especially after having invested heavily in certain players during the auction process.
In addition to addressing the issue of pullouts, the IPL has also made changes to the auction process to limit how much overseas players can earn in mini-auctions.
Moreover, the maximum auction price for overseas players in these smaller auctions will be the lower of either the highest retention price.
