MUMBAI: As expected, there was plenty of discussion on player retentions in the 10
IPL owners
’ meeting with BCCI’s top officials at the
BCCI
headquarters on Wednesday evening, with some franchises even questioning the need for a mega auction later this year, but no consensus was achieved in the nearly four-hour long meeting.
BCCI secretary
Jay Shah
told TOI: “We’ve discussed everything.
We’ll make all the decisions in a week's time.”
Summing up the difference of views regarding major IPL issues between the team owners perfectly, Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal told the reporters, "We are not on the same page on many issues. I think the BCCI, in their wisdom, will decide (on retentions). The (BCCI) president and secretary will decide. Hopefully, by the end of August, we will get to know the rules for the next cycle."
Asked on whether there was a debate in the meeting on whether there should not be a mega auction at all- a few of the bigger franchises suggested that going for a mini-auction was the better option, Jindal said, "There was, and I was surprised. Some people said that there shouldn't be a mega auction at all. There should be only smaller auctions. I'm not in that camp. I feel that it evens out the playing field, and it makes the IPL a level playing field and makes the IPL what it is. It makes it competitive, an even playing field. That's why."
Stressing that there was "no consensus" on the number of retentions a franchise should be allowed, Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal revealed: "Some people want 8-10, some people want four. It's all up in the air."
DC co-owner Parth Jindal gives thumbs-down to Impact Player rule
Meanwhile, there was no consensus between the franchises on the controversial Impact Player rule too. Jindal said he wasn’t in favour of the rule, which allows for an extra batter or bowler during the match. "Again, different views. Some people want it because it gives a chance to young players to play in the IPL. Some people don't want it because it's detrimental to Indian cricket in terms of the development of allrounders. So, it's a mixed bag. I'm in the second camp. I don't want it. I want the game as it is: 11 vs 11. I think that the allrounders are very important, and you have different players who don't bowl in the IPL or don't bat in the IPL, which is not good for Indian cricket."
In a statement on the meeting, Shah said: “The BCCI on Wednesday organized a constructive dialogue with the owners of the 10 franchises on various subjects pertaining to the upcoming season of the IPL. The franchise owners tabled feedback on player regulations and other commercial aspects, including central merchandising, licensing, and gaming.
“The BCCI will now take these recommendations to the IPL Governing Council for further deliberation and evaluation before formulating the IPL player regulations.”
It’s clear that some of the bigger teams are not in favour of having a mega auction at all, but instead have a mini auction as they want to retain as many of their top players as possible. "There were conversations on whether to have a gig or a small auction. It comes down to how many players each team wants and it looks like at the moment, the franchises want to retain as many players as they can, because they have invested heavily in them," a reliable source told this paper.
If there's no mega auction, the teams might be allowed to use the Right-to-Match cards to give them an opportunity to retain their top players. Something will have to be worked out for players who are on lower salaries,” a source told this paper.
According to a source, at one point, there was intense debate between Kolkata Knight Riders' Shah Rukh Khan and Punjab Kings' co-owner Ness Wadia on an issue, but Wadia shot down any controversy by saying that it was just a “normal discussion,” and not a “heated debate” as was being reported by various websites.
While Mumbai Indians owner Akash Ambani joined the meeting virtually, among the owners who turned up at meeting were Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan, Kiran Kumar Grandhi of Delhi Capitals, Sanjiv Goenka of Lucknow Super Giants, Rupa Gurunath of Chennai Super Kings, Kavya Maran of SunRisers Hyderabad and Manoj Badale of Rajasthan Royals.
