IPL 2025 Auction: Which Team Used Most RTM for Players and How RTM Card Works?

The 2025 IPL auction saw some of the biggest names in cricket being sold for record-breaking prices, with teams splurging huge amounts to secure top talent for their squads. 

Rishabh Pant, who formerly played for the Delhi Capitals, was sold to the Lucknow Super Giants for a whopping sum of Rs. 27 crore, making him one of the most expensive players in the auction.

Many cricket franchises retained their core players, using RTM cards strategically to maintain a balance between experience and new talent in their squads. 

Want to know which team used the maximum number of RTM cards in the auction? 

In this article, we'll explore how each team utilised their RTM cards and which players were retained for the 2025 IPL season. 

We’ll also understand the RTM factor, how teams use it during the auction and its implications on the overall team dynamics.

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What is RTM Card?

Before understanding the right-to-match card, here’s a simple example.

Imagine that Rishabh Pant played for the Delhi Capitals in the last season. During the 2025 IPL auction, another team, say the Lucknow Super Giants, bids for Rishabh Pant and offers ₹27 crore, winning the auction for him.

Now, if the Delhi Capitals have an RTM card available, they can use it to match the ₹27 crore bid and retain Rishabh Pant in their squad. 

This means Rishabh Pant would stay with the Delhi Capitals for the same price that the Lucknow Super Giants offered, despite them winning the bid.

In essence, the RTM card gives the original team a second chance to keep their player at the highest bid price set by another team. It’s a strategic option that helps teams retain their key players without directly outbidding others.

RTM, or Right-to-Match, is a game-changing ace used by IPL teams during the auction. It allows a team to retain a player who was previously part of their squad, even if another franchise wins the bid for that player. 

Essentially, it's a way for a team to "match" the highest bid for one of their former players and bring them back to the team.

But here’s a catch! The RTM Cards are limited in number, so teams have to strategically decide which players they want to use this option for during the auction. 

IPL Auction 2025: RTM Card Rules and Retentions

The IPL 2025 auction features significant updates to the Right to Match (RTM) rules and player retention strategies, which are crucial for franchises as they prepare for the upcoming season. Here’s a detailed overview of these aspects.

RTM Card Rules

The RTM card allows franchises to retain players from their previous squad who were not retained during the pre-auction retention window. Here are the key points regarding the RTM rules for IPL 2025:

Retentions: Each team can retain up to six players before the auction, with a maximum of five capped (Indian or overseas) and two uncapped Indian players allowed. If a team retains fewer than six players, they gain RTM cards equivalent to the number of players not retained.

Usage of RTM Cards: When a team uses an RTM card during the auction, they can match the highest bid for a player they released. However, in a new twist for 2025, after an RTM card is used, the original bidding team has one final opportunity to increase their bid. The team using the RTM must then decide whether to match this new bid or let the player go to the highest bidder.

Example of RTM in Action

If Chennai Super Kings (CSK) releases a player like Shivam Dube and Rajasthan Royals bids ₹6 crore for him, CSK can use their RTM card to match this bid. If Rajasthan then raises their offer to ₹8 crore, CSK must decide whether to match that amount or lose Dube.

Team Retentions

As part of their strategy for the auction, teams have made various retention decisions:

• Teams Without RTM Cards: Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders have fully utilised their retention quota and will not have any RTM cards available during the auction.
• Teams with Multiple RTMs: Teams like the Punjab Kings have maximised their options by retaining fewer players, allowing them to enter the auction with multiple RTMs available. This strategy enables them to reclaim key players without committing large sums upfront.

Players Retained Using RTM Cards

Here is the complete list of players retained through the Right to Match (RTM) cards. The list includes:

Source: IPL20

As mentioned above, every team has 6 RTM cards to use and retain their core players. In the 2025 IPL auction, all 10 teams used their RTM cards to retain their key players for the upcoming season. Now, let's see how many RTM cards are left in each team's arsenal.

• Punjab Kings: 4 RTM cards
• Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 3 RTM cards
• Delhi Capitals: 2 RTM cards
• Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Titans, Lucknow Super Giants, Mumbai Indians, and Sunrisers Hyderabad: Each has 1 RTM card available.
• Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders: 0 RTM cards, as both teams have utilised their full quota of player retentions before the auction.

Conclusion

RTM Cards are special tools used by the cricket teams in IPL auctions. Using RTMs can retain your player; however, it can affect your purse strings, limiting your ability to bid on other players during the auction. 

Teams must strategise carefully when deciding how to utilise their RTM cards to maximise their chances of building a strong and balanced squad for the upcoming season. 

The modified RTM rule introduces a risk where franchises might overpay for players they wish to retain. 

If a team is determined to keep a player but faces escalating bids, they may end up spending beyond their initial valuation, impacting their overall financial strategy and future budget allocations.

Franchises may need to rethink their long-term planning regarding player contracts and salary caps. 

The unpredictability introduced by the RTM rule could affect how teams structure contracts and negotiate with players pre-auction, as they must account for potential bidding escalations.

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