The much awaited meeting between owners of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took place in Mumbai on Wednesday and there was a big debate on the mega auction.
During the discussions which lasted well over two hours, most teams wanted more retentions and a smaller auction instead of the mega auction which was planned before the 2025 edition of the cash-rich league.
It is understood that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) were amongst the teams which batted for more retentions while teams like Delhi Capitals (DC) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) were happy to continue with the mega auction.
After the meeting, DC co-owner Parth Jindal, who attended the meeting with co-owner Kiran Kumar Grandhi, spoke to the media and seemed surprised at the “debate”.
“I was surprised that there was a debate. Some people said that there should not be a mega auction at all and that there should be only smaller auctions. But 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,” says Jindal said.
He also informed that the DC camp is not in favour of the Impact Player rule as it hampers the “growth of all-rounders”.
PBKS co-owner Ness Wadia didn’t reveal much from the meeting and said it was a good “brainstorming session” where all parties gave their views and opinions on different matters.
“I am not going to say that… everyone gave their views and everyone gave their opinions. Like I said, you have to look at all stakeholders. It was a very good brainstorming session…. our objective is that fans are happier, media is happier, cricketers are happier. That’s why we were here. Impact player, capped, uncapped player everything was discussed,” says Wadia.
BCCI to take final call in a week
It now remains to be seen what the Indian cricket board decides as they will take note of the feedback tabled by different teams during the session. BCCI secretary Jay Shah said the franchises will be informed about the decision in a week.
“The retention issue, the RTM issue and all other aspects were discussed. We will let the franchises know about our decision in a week’s time,” Shah tells reporters after the long meeting.
The BCCI had earlier stated in a statement that the recommendations will be taken to the IPL Governing Council, chaired by Arun Dhumal, for further evaluation.
“The BCCI will now take these recommendations to the IPL Governing Council for further deliberation and evaluation before formulating the IPL player regulations,” read a media advisory.
Apart from Grandhi, Jindal and Wadia, Shah Rukh Khan (Kolkata Knight Riders), Sanjiv Goenka (Lucknow Super Giants), Rupa Gurunath (Chennai Super Kings), Manoj Badale (Rajasthan Royals), Prathmesh Mishra (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) turned up for the meeting while Mumbai Indians joined virtually.
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