List of 2018 Indian Premier League personnel changes

This is a list of all personnel changes for the 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL). This was the third season to have all players, apart from a selection of retained players, return to the auction pool (first in 2011, second in 2014)

The eight IPL franchise teams could retain a maximum of five players from their squad, out of which only three could be retained during the retention period. The teams could also use a maximum of three right-to-match cards at the auction (a maximum of two, if the franchise retained three players during the retention period). The other restrictions on player retention were: a maximum of three capped Indian players could be retained, and only two overseas players and two uncapped Indian players could be retained. The salary deduction for every retained player from the franchise's salary purse was stipulated to be ₹15 crore, ₹11 crore and ₹7 crore if three players were retained; ₹12.5 crore and ₹8.5 crore if two players were retained; and ₹12.5 crore if only one player was retained. For retaining an uncapped player, salary deduction was set at ₹3 crore.^[1]

Chennai and Rajasthan, two franchises which were returning after serving a two-year suspension, were allowed to retain players from their respective 2015 squads who were not part of the squads of any of the other six teams in 2017. This meant that Chennai could retain from a pool of 13 players whereas Rajasthan had 6 players to choose from.^[2]

The franchises were required to submit their retention lists by 4 January 2018. Player retention was broadcast live on Star Sports, making it the first time that player retention was telecasted.^[3]

The player auction for the 2018 Indian Premier League was held in Bangalore on 27 and 28 January 2018. The salary cap for the season was increased from ₹66 crore to ₹80 crore, with all franchises needing to spend at least 75 percent of the amount.^[4] In total 1122 players signed up to be a part of the auction.^[5] The team requested an addition of 9 players in the IPL longlist including Nepalese spinner Sandeep Lamichhane who became the first Nepalese to be listed in IPL auction.^[6][7] The list was shortlisted to the total of 578 players including 360 Indians.^[8] This was the first time that both capped and uncapped players were going to be auctioned on the same day.^[6] The shortlist included 62 capped Indians and 298 uncapped Indian cricketers along with 182 capped overseas cricketers, 34 uncapped overseas players and 2 cricketers from Associate Nations.^[8] The players were divided in sets. Sets 1 and 2 consisted of marquee players such as Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuvraj Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Chris Gayle and Ajinkya Rahane. Other players, were categorized according to the combination of capped or uncapped and their specialisation:^[8]

169 players (113 Indians and 56 Overseas) were sold at auction. Ben Stokes fetched the highest bid of ₹12.5 crore (US$1.95 million). Jaydev Unadkat was the most costly Indian player at ₹11.5 crore (US$1.80 million). Among uncapped players Krunal Pandya was most expensive at ₹8.8 crore(US$1.38 million). Many prominent players such as Lasith Malinga, Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma, Hashim Amla and Joe Root remain unsold.^[9]

The players from Set-1 to 11 were auctioned on Day 1. The players from Set-12 to 19 were auctioned on Day 2. Later in Day 2, players from Set-20 to 62 were auctioned through accelerated process. In later half, the remaining unsold and left players chosen by teams were recalled into auctioned.^[10] 64 players were called into Recall Round-1 and 15 into Recall Round-2.^[11]

Source:Vivo IPL 2018 Player Auction^[12][11]

Key to sets

• BA: Batsman
• FA: Fast bowler
• SP: Spin bowler
• AL: All-rounder
• M: Marquee player
• U: Uncapped player

^RTM RTM: Players bought using Rights to Match Card.

^REC REC-1/2/1&2: Players unsold originally in their sets but brought back for Recall Round-1 or 2 or both.

^DI-REC DI-REC-1/2/1&2: Players not called in accelerated process but were brought back for Recall Round-1 or 2 or both..

¹ Note 1: Abhishek Sharma was wrongly categorized in the Set-10-UWK1 in the shortlist was corrected in the auction.

* : Players were in the squad for the season but did not play any match.

0 : Players mentioned as 0 in IPL matches column were part of the squad but did not play any matches.

The following players remained unsold at the end of the two-day auction.