By Vishesh RoyNew Delhi [India], November 26 (ANI): Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals has retained its skipper Sanju Samson ahead of the upcoming mega auction which will be held before the 2022 edition of the tournament.

Sources within the Rajasthan Royals camp confirmed to ANI that Samson has indeed been retained by the franchise.

"Yes, Sanju Samson has been retained. We will disclose the other players in the coming days," said the source.

The two new Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises -- Lucknow and Ahmedabad were allotted a budget of Rs 33 crore to pick three players who go back into the pool before the mega auction begins.

In the mail sent by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to all the franchises, which had been accessed by ANI, the rules were formally conveyed and the salary purse for all the teams was set at Rs 90 crore.

The amount is an increase from the IPL 2021 auction as then the purse was of Rs 85 crore. The eight existing franchises (CSK, KKR, RCB, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings and SunRisers Hyderabad) have been allowed to retain up to four players.

The BCCI has set the retention window for the eight older franchises from November 1-30, and the window for Lucknow and Ahmedabad is from December 1-25.

If one of the eight existing franchises decides to retain four players, then they will be debited Rs 16 crore for the first player, Rs 12 crore for the second player, Rs 8 crore for the third player, and Rs 6 crore for the fourth player and the total deduction will be 42 croreFor the eight franchises, rules have been set that they cannot retain more than three Indians (capped/uncapped). They cannot retain more than two overseas players and not more than two uncapped Indian players.

For the two new franchises -- Lucknow and Ahmedabad -- they cannot pick more than two Indian players (capped/uncapped). They cannot pick more than one overseas player and more than one Indian uncapped player. (ANI)