The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction is getting closer and the excitement regarding the retention policy — that is yet to be announced by the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) — is also increasing. How many retentions will the Board allow and what will be the maximum count of overseas stars that could be retained by each franchise? Such questions have taken the fore, however an official word from the BCCI regarding the new policy is still awaited. Notably, IPL 2025 auction is set to take place in December this year.

The BCCI was expected to announce the retention policy by the end of August but it is likely to be delayed further, stated Cricbuzz in a report. It added that the franchises could be given time until November 15 to finalize their picks.

Around a month ago, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) CEO Kasi Viswanath had denied the reports that the franchise asked the BCCI for a reintroduction of a now-scrapped rule to rope in MS Dhoni at a lower price during retention.

Earlier in IPL, an international player after five years of his retirement would be named in the ‘uncapped’ category. However, this rule was abolished after IPL 2021. Several reports stated that CSK want that rule to back as it would help them retain Dhoni as an ‘uncapped’ player, which means at a price as low as Rs 4 crore. The franchise had retained Dhoni for a price of 12 crore in 2022. However, CSK CEO Viswanath refuted the claims of the franchise made any such request.

The latest report on IPL retention policy stated that in fact it is the BCCI which is considering to put the retired players in the ‘uncapped’ category. The report added that bringing back such a policy will not only help Dhoni and CSK, but also the league.

N Sriram Balaji was easily tamed by Elias Ymer while Ramkumar Ramanathan lacked the killer instinct even against a lower-ranked Leo Borg as India were left trailing 0-2 against Sweden in the Davis Cup World Group I tie, on Saturday. Balaji, who is a doubles specialist, found the going tough against Ymer, who raced to a 6-4 6-2 win in the opening singles. Ramkumar, who is a seasoned Davis Cupper now, was expected to bring India back into the tie but he lost to 603-ranked Borg, son of the legendary Bjorn Borg 3-6 3-6, in the second singles at the Royal Tennis Hall.

India were forced to field Balaji in singles as the country’s top singles player Sumit Nagal opted out of the tie due to a back injury. While Balaji did the job against Pakistan, playing someone of the calibre of Ymer was always going to be a tough task.

The onus to win a point for India on the opening day was on Ramkumar. He should have won his singles match against the 21-year-old Borg but he did not seem to have a way to go past the Swede.

Ramkumar’s challenge fell apart in just 58 minutes.

India now need to win all the remaining three matches on Sunday if the team has to make it to next year’s Qualifiers.

It remains to be seen if captain Rohit Rajpal goes with Balaji and Ramkumar in the do-or-die doubles, or changes the combination.

Most likely, Balaji and Niki Poonacha will take the court.

Twice in Davis Cup history, India have managed to win a tie after being down 0-2. In 2010, India beat Brazil, and in 2018, it won against China after trailing 0-2.

Ramkumar could not charge to the net in the opening set as was the plan but did comparatively better in the second set. Bjorg served well, made fewer unforced errors and found some good passing winners when Ramkumar approached the net.

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