A lot has been discussed between IPL franchise owners & BCCI

IPL owners' meeting: KKR, SRH among franchises against mega auctions

The meeting with IPL franchise owners was called to discuss modalities and number of retentions ahead of the mega auction. It turned into a debate on the relevance and future of mega auctions. After a heated exchange of views among some franchises in the meeting hall on the fourth floor of the BCCI headquarters at the Wankhede Stadium, the board stated it would communicate its decision to the franchises in the coming weeks.

Quite a few voices were against the mega auctions and the chief advocates of its discontinuation were Kolkata Knight Riders's Shah Rukh Khan and Sunrisers Hyderabad's Kavya Maran, incidentally the two were the finalists of IPL 2024, who unmistakably want to hold on to their high-performing sides. Their contention, though, has been that teams need continuity for brand-building and fan engagement.

According to a top BCCI source, who was part of the meeting, Shah Rukh fiercely made the case against mega auctions. At one stage, the KKR owner was also believed to be engaged in a heated argument with Ness Wadia, the co-owner of Punjab Kings, over the number of retentions.

KKR found support in SRH's owner Maran, who said her franchise's preference is for mini auction every year rather than having a mega auction. In a statement released to Cricbuzz after the meeting, Maran said: "It takes a lot of time to build a squad and as discussed it also takes quite a bit of time and investment for the younger players to mature. It has taken Abhishek Sharma three years to become consistent with his performances. You would agree that there are many such examples in other teams too."

Among those who were against too many retentions was Parth Jindal of Delhi Capitals. "I was surprised that there was debate on whether to hold the big auction," he said. "Some people said that there should not be a mega auction at all. There should be only smaller auctions. I'm not in that camp. I feel that it evens the playing field and it's very good for everyone. It makes the IPL what it is. It makes it competitive. It makes it an even playing field. What we are learning is that team owners don't want the auction. It's just a few owners."

Jindal said he was also against the continuation of Impact Player rule which has divided the IPL community. "Some people want it because it gives a chance to young players to play in the IPL. Some people don't want it because it is detrimental to Indian cricket in terms of the development of all-rounders. So it's a mixed bag. I'm in the second camp. I don't want it. I prefer the game as it is, XI vs XI. I think all-rounders are very important. You have different players who don't bowl in the IPL or don't bat in the IPL because of this rule, which is not good for Indian cricket," he said.

The other owners who turned up at meeting were Kiran Kumar Grandhi, also of Delhi Capitals, Sanjiv Goenka of Lucknow Super Giants, Rupa Gurunath of Chennai Super Kings, Manoj Badale of Rajasthan Royals and Prathmesh Mishra of Royal Challengers Bangalore. A few owners attended the meeting via video conference, including the Ambanis of Mumbai Indians.

The BCCI later released a statement saying, "The franchise owners tabled feedback on player regulations and other commercial aspects, including central merchandising, licensing, and gaming," the BCCI said in a media release. "The BCCI will now take these recommendations to the IPL Governing Council for further deliberation and evaluation before formulating the IPL player regulations."

Thank you for the thread, Raji.

Big money and talent involved in this contest. It is necessary to plan accordingly, the discussions are vital.

Originally posted by: Viswasruti

Thank you for the thread, Raji. Big money and talent involved in this contest. It is necessary to plan accordingly, the discussions are vital.

Cheers..

I am happy with only 4 foreign players per match rule. But not so happy with impact player rule. It is taking the fun away.

They need to make changes like, every player need to have an undisclosed reserve price. If the auction reaches that point the franchise can make a bid in closed envelopes and the highest bidder will get the player after the whole auction is finished. That way franchise will think twice before breaking their bank for one single player.

At the moment it is not a level playing field at the auctions.

Kavya Maran has raised some very important issues.

Kavya Kalanithi Maran has called for the removal of restrictions on the number of foreign players that can be retained. The CEO of the Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise has requested a minimum of seven retentions or Right to Match (RTM) options for an IPL franchise ahead of the mega auction. Additionally, she has suggested that foreign players who do not enroll in the mega auction or fail to show up after being purchased should be banned.

At Wednesday's meeting between IPL team owners and the BCCI authorities, the SRH promoter emphasised the need for each franchise to have at least seven retentions or, alternatively, as many RTM options. She explained her demand with an example.

"We can use it as four retentions and two RTMS, or all six retentions, or all six RTMS and so on. The choice on whether a retention or RTM is used should be with the franchise based on discussions with the player."

She went on to make the point. "There have been numerous instances in the past where a player has preferred to go to the auction when he has felt that the retention amount is on the lower side. There have also been instances where multiple players have felt that they should be the first retention, and if not retained as first, they have asked to be put in the auction instead. To avoid this, we can give the players the chance to either be retained or RTM at the market discovered price, ensuring that the player is not disgruntled about the retention price.

"If only retentions are allowed, there is a good possibility that franchises will pay their retained players more than the retention value through side contracts. But with RTMs, a player gets the market price in the auction within the restrictions of the purse and this will ensure that the purse decides and restricts the purchasing power of all franchises and not the bank balance of the franchise... It will also ensure transparency and maintain the integrity of a brand as prestigious as the IPL."

Maran also elaborated on the need for the removal of the cap on the number of foreign players that can be retained. Last time, the BCCI permitted the teams to retain a maximum of two foreign players.

"Each team is built differently and the core strengths of various squads are different. Some have strong overseas players, some have strong capped Indian players, and some strong uncapped players. In our case, we have a strong core of overseas players. The number of capped/uncapped/overseas players retained should be at the discretion of the franchise and not restricted. For example, we can retain four overseas and two capped Indians or three overseas and three uncapped Indians and so on," she said.

Maran also called for bans on players who renege on their commitment and do not show up after enrolling for the auction. As had been reported by Cricbuzz, SRH were very upset with Wanindu Hasaranga, who pulled out of IPL 2024 citing injury. Many think he did now show up because of getting a low bid of only INR 1.5 crore. His salary with RCB before that had been over INR 10 crore.

"After being selected in the auction, if a player doesn't come to play the season for any reason apart from injury, he should be banned," she said. She did not, however, name-check the Sri Lankan allrounder.

"The franchises put in a lot of effort into the auction to form their combinations. If a player goes for a low amount in the auction, and subsequently doesn't turn up, it affects the combination and the balance of the side. There have been many instances of overseas players not turning up for this reason."

She was of the view that retired players should not be treated as uncapped players while being retained. They should, instead, come to the auction. She did not name MS Dhoni but appeared to be hinting at the former India skipper, who plays for Chennai Super Kings.

"Senior players have immense value in the IPL. They bring experience and some also bring brand value. By restricting their value to the uncapped amount we are disrespecting the player and his value. Some retired players can go for much more in the auction than being retained as uncapped pre-auction.

"When new uncapped players get more money in the auction, it sets a wrong precedent to allow senior players to be retained as uncapped. Let the auction dictate the value and calibre of the retired player, thereby respecting their contribution to the game over the years."

Maran also had a strong point of view on money cut from the salary cap for players retained. She wanted the BCCI to not decide on how much retained players be paid. "The money deducted from the overall salary cap for pre-auction retentions must be an overall pot based on number of players retained, and should not be individual amounts for first retention, second retention and so on.

"The franchise should have the discretion of how they split the amount among the retained players. This will prevent situations of conflict where players feel that they are of the same calibre but one player gets a higher amount, while the other lower based on pre-assigned brackets. This will also eliminate the potential of off-contract payments."

it seems its all paisa phenk tamasha dekh