Who said what: IPL franchises on impact player rule, retentions & mega auction after BCCI meeting

A lot has transpired since the meeting between IPL franchise owners and BCCI office-bearers on July 31. To decide about the league’s immediate and distant future, topics like retention, impact player rule, foreign players, capped and uncapped Indian players, mega and mini auctions were on the agenda.

A lot of ground was covered. There were agreements and, naturally, some disagreements as well. But one can’t keep up with everything. There are many statements from different franchise owners, several reports, and a plethora of rumours. It’s best that we give a detailed synopsis of what’s happened in the past couple of days.

KKR-SRH say no mega auction, DC & PBKS in favour

The finalists of the IPL 2024, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders, were against the very idea of a mega auction. They felt that it’s taken them years to finally build a balanced side, and now that they are finding success, something like a mega auction would derail them. They’ve invested significant time in developing players, and being limited to selecting just a couple of players isn’t right.

“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,” Sunrisers Hyderabad owner Kavya Maran told Cricbuzz.

Instead of a mega auction once every three years, they suggested a smaller auction, i.e., a mini auction. However, the Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings were against such a suggestion. The two teams have yet to win an IPL trophy, and since they haven’t found success with their current team, it’s only natural they want a mega auction to reshuffle and build a strong team. 

“I was surprised that there was debate on whether to hold the big auction. 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,” Delhi Capitals owner Parth Jindal said.

The most successful franchises, the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, have decided to stay mum on the topic. 

2-year ban on wily foreign players

Before the meeting even took place, we heard rumours that foreign players could very well be banned from the IPL if they tried to skip the league for ‘invalid’ reasons. BCCI CEO and IPL COO, Hemang Amin, apparently put forward the idea to the franchises. According to ESPNcricinfo, the franchises unanimously agreed that foreign players should receive a 2-year ban if they skip the league after being picked in the auction for unjust reasons.

“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,” Kavya Maran said to Cricbuzz.

Fight because of retentions

As mentioned above, the Kolkata Knight Riders were against the mega auction, and the Punjab Kings were in favour. The reason behind this disagreement was the number of retentions each franchise could make. A mega auction means you can retain somewhere between 4 and 8 players, while there isn’t a limit in the mini auction. At one point, the debate got so heated that the owners of the respective franchises, Shah Rukh Khan and Ness Wadia, were involved in a verbal altercation.

Impact player rule under scrutiny

The impact player rule was on the itinerary of the meeting. Players and coaches aren’t too keen to continue the innovation launched in 2023. But the broadcasters are adamant about continuing the rule. The BCCI hadn’t made the decision before the meeting. We know the topic was discussed, but it isn’t certain which IPL franchises backed its removal and who was in favour of keeping it.

Inactive capped players can lower their base price

Capped Indian players who have been inactive for five years or more could be allowed to lower their base price at IPL auctions to ensure they have a better chance of getting picked. This suggestion came from Hemang Amin and was accepted by all franchises without any pushback.

SRH shoots down CSK’s uncapped ploy to retain MS Dhoni

The Chennai Super Kings want MS Dhoni to play in the IPL 2025 season. To do so, they want to bring back an old rule that was scrapped in 2021. What’s the rule? Well, it allows players who have retired for five years or more to be considered ‘uncapped’. This would help them retain Dhoni for just Rs 4 crore and help them boost their salary cap. But the other franchises shot it down, and Kavya Maran said it would ‘disrespect’ a player’s value and set a ‘wrong precedent’.