New Delhi, Sep 17 (IANS): As the Indian Premier League (IPL) prepares for its next mega auction in 2025, former India cricketer Ambati Rayudu expressed a significant increase in player retention. Rayudu's call comes in response to the ongoing debate about the number of players each franchise should be allowed to retain.

In the last mega auction held in 2022, the IPL teams were permitted to retain up to four players. With the end of the three-year cycle approaching, there are differing opinions among franchises about the optimal number of retained players. While some teams argue for a larger retention cap, possibly up to eight players, others are comfortable with the existing limit of four or five.

Rayudu, who will be seen in action for Konark Suryas Odisha in the Legends League Cricket (LLC) starting on September 20, expressed his strong belief that increasing the retention limit would benefit teams.

“Since a club makes significant investments in the players, I believe the rate of retention needs to be far higher. Since the team's core is what distinguishes each team in the IPL, the longer the core is there, the longer the team's culture will endure. A higher retention rate increases the likelihood of success. Not just one or two, but all of the key players ought to be kept on,” Rayudu stated on the backdrop of the LLC press conference.

The IPL Governing Council is yet to finalize the retention policy for the upcoming season.

Rayudu also warned the Indian men's cricket team to not take the Bangladesh cricket team lightly in the Test series. The first Test against Bangladesh will commence on Thursday at the M.A. Chidambaram Cricket Stadium, Chennai.

"It will be a challenging series for India against Bangladesh, they shouldn't take them lightly for the reason of how they have performed against Pakistan. However, the favourites are the Indian team but Bangladesh pacers will be a trouble for them," said Rayudu.