2024-07-25 00:40:20
New Delhi: IPL franchises have shared suggestions on issues including player retention and duration of the mega auction in a feedback session held ahead of the mega auction for 2025. Along with holding the mega auction every five years, they have also suggested that teams should get the opportunity to retain four to six players. They have also demanded the option of eight Right to Match (RTM) cards.IPL mega auction should be held every 5 years, not 3
According to a senior official of an IPL franchise, instead of three years, it is more beneficial to hold a big auction every five years. This will give the franchise enough time to prepare young players, especially uncapped ones. Franchises that have been a part of the tournament since the first season have invested a lot in finding young talent. They have also established cricket academies with the aim of finding talent and preparing them for the international level. Organizing a big auction every five years will encourage teams to continue doing so. But by organizing a big auction every three years, teams fear that the talent they have prepared may go from their camp to the rival camp.
According to a report by Cricinfo, there have been two occasions in the last decade when the IPL’s big auction has been held at an interval of four years. The first time this happened was in 2017, that year the big auction was held for the first time since 2014 as Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were making a comeback after a two-year ban (2016 and 2017). Due to the Corona epidemic, the next big auction was held in 2021. On both occasions, the franchises had the option to extend their players’ contracts for one year.
As an experiment, the official suggested that the franchises should be allowed to negotiate salaries directly with the players between the two big auctions. According to the official, this will not only enable the teams to retain their key players but will also benefit those players who were bought at their base price or at a lower price during the previous auction. This entire process will be transparent and its information will be shared with the IPL. However, according to the official, the teams should have control of this entire process and the players should not have the facility to be released during this period.
There was also talk on the right to match card
The Right to Match option should allow teams to retain one big player, possibly the captain, and allow other players to be included as RTMs, said the CEO of an IPL franchise. According to him, this will allow the market to determine the value of the players and at the same time it will also eliminate disappointment among players who are last in the retention order. It was used in the 2017 auction. When teams were allowed to retain a maximum of five players by combining retention and RTM. Before that auction, teams could retain a maximum of three players while a maximum of three other players could be included in their team using RTM. If a franchise had not retained three players before the auction, then even in the big auction, it could include a maximum of three players in its team through RTM.
What is RTM card?
RTM allows teams to buy back their players after the bidding process is over for an amount equal to their highest bid. However, according to a team official, this option is beneficial only for a few franchises. According to the official, if the player included in the team through RTM is included for a higher amount than the player retained before the auction, then this can also lead to discontent among the players.
In 2022, 8 teams were given the facility to retain four players
When two new teams, Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants, entered the mega auction in 2022, the other eight teams were given the option to retain four players. These teams could retain these players in two different ways, three Indian and one foreign player or two Indian and two foreign players. The RTM facility was not there then as the IPL wanted Lucknow and Gujarat to have a large number of players to choose from to build their teams.
The players who were uncapped and bought for low amounts in the previous auctions have now played for India in this period and have turned into match winners. They would prefer to go to the auction rather than be retained. This thinking may seem perfect from the player’s point of view but the teams that drafted them would definitely want control.
What is this solution?
One solution to this, proposed by one franchise to the IPL, is to do away with retention and allow teams to use a maximum of eight RTM cards. The idea has received mixed response from other teams. Some teams believe it will create a level playing field while others feel they can’t offer their players to auction. However, it also raises the possibility of competitors bidding in a bidding war to influence the auction strategy. Some members of the IPL since its inception said that ensuring a dedicated fan base is much harder to achieve than forcing teams to rebuild their squads every three years.
Officials agreed that the IPL needs to develop a mechanism to create better fan attachment so that teams can retain players for a long time. An official, who is in favour of holding a big auction every five years, says that now the time has come for the teams to leave their selfishness and focus on the bigger picture. Many other ideas are expected to be discussed in the next meeting between the IPL and the franchises. There may be a discussion on the impact player rule, about which there are mixed opinions among the teams. The purse for the 2025 auction and the salary slab of the retained players are also expected to be discussed.