IPL franchises bat for player retention
MUMBAI: A majority of the Indian Premier League( I PL) franchises batted for a retention policy, which will allow them to hold on to their core group of players, during a meeting with the Board officials on Tuesday.
With the auction likely in January 2018, the franchises will have to build their teams from scratch. “A majority of the franchises felt that retention or ‘right to match’ should be given… we will keep that aspect in mind before taking a decision,” said IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla. A couple of franchises floated the idea of holding the auctions in England but it did not get much support from the rest.
Apart from the I PL Governing Council, the two members of the Committee of Administrators, Vinod Rai and Diana Eduljee, were also present at the meeting.
“A number of issues, including number of players( in each team ), salary cap and the total players teams can retain, were discussed, besides the venue and dates for the auction and opening ceremony,” Shukla added.
There was also discussion on whether the two returning franchises — Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals — be allowed to retain their original players. CSK is trying hard to get back their former skipper MS D hon ia round whom their brand was built. But, it was learnt that a celebrity team owner spoke against preferential treatment towards a franchise. “I cannot say anything now. Once we take a decision on retention and‘ right to match ’, only then can I say something. Once the decision is taken then it will depend on the players and franchises,” said Shukla.
An IPLGC member suggested making IPL a 10-team affair, which will allowthe two replacement teams — Pune Supergiant and GujaratLions—to continue. But it was shot down citing lack of quality players and constraints in the IPL window.
Most owners were not very keen to increase the salary cap for teams even though their share from the central revenue pool (CRP) will increase by almost 300%. The last salary cap was fixed at ~66 crore, and while the BCCI is fine with franchises increasing it substantially so that players benefit, it might not go beyond ~75 crore.
According to an estimate, the CRP could be in excess of ~260 cr ore from next season owing to a whopping ~16,000 cr ore the BC CI has made from IPL media rights sale. All these decisions are likely to be taken during the IPL governing council meeting to beheld after two weeks.