Photo Credit: Facebook Photo of IamSRK
Details are emerging from the recent IPL owners meeting convened by the BCCI on Wednesday.
The meeting was held at the BCCI office in Wankhede Stadium, with the agenda of discussing issues related to retentions for the IPL 2025 season.
All 10 franchises were represented, with the following owners understood to be in attendance:
- Rupa Gurunath and Kasi Viswanathan (owner and CEO of CSK respectively)
- Parth Jindal, Delhi Capitals (DC) co-owner
- Kiran Gandhi (DC co-owner)
- Amit Soni (CVC Partners, owners of Gujarat Titans) and
- Shah Rukh Khan (main owner of KKR)
- Sanjiv Goenka and Shashwat Goenka (LSG owner and his son)
- Akash Ambani (Mumbai Indians owner), attending virtually
- Ness Wadia (co-owner of Punjab Kings)
- Manoj Badale and Ranjit Barthakur (principal owner and chair of Rajasthan Royals respectively)
- Prathmesh Mishra and Rajesh Menon (chair and vice-president at Diageo, the group that owns RCB)
- Kavya Maran, the owner of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
However, apparently, heated disagreements over key issues surfaced among various owners – with divides often coming along the lines of recent team performance.
Mega Auction Controversy
Perhaps the largest point of contention was the IPL ‘Mega Auction’ and its impact on the ability for teams to develop players.
The most vocal opponents were Shah Rukh Khan and Kavya Maran, owners of the 2024 IPL’s two finalists
Their argument, apparently, was that mega auctions are detrimental to building long term fan engagement and connection with team players and brands.
DC’s Jindal expressed surprise over this position: “I was surprised. There was a debate. 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. It makes the IPL what it is. It makes it competitive. It makes it an even-playing field.”
There were also apparently disputes among team owners about whether a mega auction should be held once every five years or not.
Maran apparently advocated having a mega auctions every five years.
Maran stated a preference for mini auctions over a mega auction, including for the 2025 season. She was quoted as saying: “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. You would agree that there are many such examples in other teams too.”
Retentions
A related issue of dispute was the number of retentions teams should be allowed.
SRH’s Maran called for a minimum of seven retentions and no restrictions on returning overseas players.
On this issue it was reported that Khan, who again sided with Maran, had a vocal dispute with Punjab Kings owner Ness Wadia.
However, according to Cricbuzz’s Vijay Tagore, Ness Wadia denied any ill-feelings towards KKR’s star owner: “I have known Shah Rukh for more than 25 years. There is no animosity here. Everyone gave their views, and they had their opinions. At the end of the day, you have to look at all the stakeholders and do what’s best for all. That’s most important.”
Apparently, several team owners had separately and previously advocated a perspective on retentions similar to Maran and Khan’s to IPL chief operating officer Hemang Amin.
Impact Player Rule
Allegedly, DC’s Jindal advocated the scrapping of the Impact Player Rule, originally designed to give uncapped Indian players more exposure.
Specifically, the Impact Player rule allows the team batting first to use seven specialist batters and then in its bowling innings to bring in a specialist sixth bowler to replace one of the batters. The reverse is true for the team fielding first – they can replace one of their bowlers with a batter when they bat second.
However, the rule has been controversial, with many high-profile opponents, including Rohit Sharma, who argue that it prevents the development of all rounders at the India national team level.
According to ESPN cricinfo, Jindal was quoted as saying: “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 is detrimental to Indian cricket in terms of the development of allrounders. So it’s a mixed bag. I’m on the second camp. I don’t want it. I prefer the game as it is 11 versus 11, and I think all rounders are very important. And you have different players who don’t bowl in the IPL or don’t bat in the IPL because of this rule, which is not good for Indian cricket.”
Right-to-Match
Another issue discussed was the ideal mechanism for retention. There is a range of such mechanisms, from plain retention to a “Right to Match” (RTM) – advocated by KKR and Kavya Maran.
The RTM is generally viewed as more player-friendly as it allows the market to set their price, even when retained.
The RTM was included in the 2018 mega auction, but not in the 2022 mega auction.
Consensus areas: overseas players
Despite all these differences, there was virtual unanimity on two areas relating to overseas players.
First, the franchises recommended that overseas players pulling out of the tournament after the auction and without a legitimate cause should be banned from the IPL for two years.
Second, they recommended to the BCCI to make it a requirement for overseas players to register for the mega auction, as opposed to just for mini-auctions.
BCCI next steps
The BCCI issued a press release after the meeting, in which it stated:
“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 is expected that the BCCI will finalize next season’s rules for retention and the auction by end of this month.
