In a normal world, Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises are delighted to see their players get picked up in the India squad, but the news of Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Mayank Yadav's call-up to the Indian squad for the upcoming T20I series against Bangladesh might not have been news that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) wanted to hear just a month before they are expected to submit their list of retentions for the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL).
For those unversed, the Suryakumar Yadav-led India squad for the three T20Is was named on Saturday (September 28) by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee. No member of India's 16-man squad for the ongoing Test series was named with the three-match red-ball assignment against New Zealand set to start on October 16.
Just minutes after that announcement, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made another huge announcement by finally revealing the retention rules for the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction.
Among the many rules for the 18th edition of the competition, one that stood out was that each has to retain at least one uncapped player. Any player who has never played for India does not have to come under the Rs. 18, 14, or 11 crore bracket and a franchise can keep hold of him for Rs. 4 crore only.
KKR, SRH, LSG Set To Be Hurt By Harshit Rana, Nitish Reddy, Mayank Yadav's India Call-Up?
In the 2024 IPL, Harshit, Nitish, and Mayank were among the best uncapped players, and it will come as no surprise if KKR, SRH, and LSG, respectively, want to retain them. At the moment, all three teams have the option to get them on a cut-price deal of Rs. 4 crore.
However, that might not be the case by the time the retention deadline rolls around. As per the rules published by the BCCI, any player will only be counted uncapped if he does play for India till October 31. All three of Harshit, Nitish, and Mayank are set to get their debut caps against Bangladesh, which will mean they cannot be retained as uncapped players.
"It may be noted that for retention purposes, any player who gets capped on or before October 31, 2024, will be considered a capped player," said BCCI, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
In this scenario, their IPL franchises will have to either retain them in the normal slabs or use the Right to Match (RTM) card for them at the auction.
As far as the three players are concerned, Nitish was the first to get an India call-up when he was named in the squad to play the 5 T20Is for Zimbabwe but was later ruled out of the series due to an injury. Harshit was later named in the same squad for the first two games but was not selected in playing XI. He was also part of the Indian ODI squad for the Sri Lanka tour but once again did not get a chance to make his debut.
As far as Mayank is concerned, this is his first-ever international call-up, and it will also be the first competitive cricket match he will play after his IPL campaign was cut short by an injury.
It is worth noting that if Harshit, Nitish, or Mayank are not named in the playing XI for any of the three games, they will remain uncapped despite being part of the squad.
Since the 2024 IPL, Abhishek Sharma and Riyan Parag have made their debuts for India.