Cricket may be the sport that the BCCI manages, but they just made a brilliant ‘chess move’. Following last year’s record-breaking auction, which saw the ‘most expensive player’ tag in the IPL be broken twice, the BCCI has brought in a new rule. The IPL Governing Council has decided that an overseas player has to register for the mega auction if he wishes to be eligible for the mini auction that follows next year.
BCCI aware of overseas players’ antics
This seems like a direct shot at many overseas players. People have claimed that they specifically want to go under the hammer at the mini auction when the franchises are in desperate need of filling the spots and are willing to pay big bucks. This was certainly the case last year as Pat Cummins became the most expensive player at 20.50 crore and then moments later Mitchell Starc overtook him with a 24.75 crore bid.
Knowing how this can become a common tactic by which overseas player skip the mega auction and come in to cash the check next year at the mini auction, the BCCI has decided to make registering for a mega auction a must. “Any Overseas Player will have to register for the Big Auction. In case the overseas player doesn’t register, then he will be ineligible to register in the following year’s player auction,” one of the eight retention regulations for the IPL 2025 mega auction read.
An overseas player must register for the mega auction later in the year if they want to appear in the IPL 2026 mini auction. The only case they can ‘skip’ the mega auction is if they are injured or have any medical condition. However, that’ll only be granted if their home board confirms so.