The Indian Premier League is going to be "even bigger" next year as the eight franchises will end up spending between Rs 480 crore ($72.2M) and Rs 640 crore ($96.2M) on players alone, according to Gaurav Laghate of the ECONOMIC TIMES. The IPL Governing Council "upped the player cap for the franchises for the next three years." The franchises are now allowed to spend up to Rs 80 crore ($12M) in '18, compared to Rs 66 crore ($9.9M) in '17. The franchises will be allowed to shell out Rs 82 crore ($12.3M) in '19 and Rs 85 crore ($12.8M) in '20. Franchises will have to spend a minimum of 75% of the salary cap for each season. As part of the player retention policy, franchises "have been allowed to secure a maximum of five players" through a combination of pre-auction retention and Right to Match cards. The governing council decided that the player pool available for the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, which are returning after a two-year ban, will be the players who played for them in '15 and who were part of the Rising Pune Super Giants and Gujarat Lions in '17 (ET, 12/6).
