Debate over having mega auction dominates IPL owners meeting with BCCI

New Delhi, Aug 1 (IANS) Whether to have a mega auction for ahead of the upcoming season was the major point of contention in the meeting between the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the 10 franchises of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The meeting of the IPL teams’ owners with the BCCI at the latter’s headquarters in Mumbai on Wednesday night was inconclusive and with no consensus emerging on the matter.

A report in Cricbuzz claimed quite a few people are against holding mega auctions, including Kolkata Knight Riders' owner, actor-producer Shah Rukh Khan, who was fiercely in favour of not holding one. This development was confirmed by Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal to reporters in Mumbai, who added that the house is also divided on the Impact Player rule.“A consensus on the mega auction - whether to have it or not - will eventually determine the number of retentions. If the BCCI decides to do away with the mega auctions, there may not be a requirement for retentions at all,” the report further said.The other point of discussion was the number of retentions and there was no consensus amongst ten owners on this issue also.

“At one stage, the KKR owner was also believed to be engaged in a heated argument with Ness Wadia, the co-owner of Punjab Kings, over a number of retentions; Shah Rukh was in favour of major retentions while Wadia is believed to be against too many of them,” added the report.Asked about his opinion over the Impact Player rule, which received a lot of flak from players and coaches in IPL 2024, Jindal told reporters in Mumbai that though the ruling gives chances to a lot of new players, he is not in favour of it as it hinders the growth of genuine all-rounders in Indian cricket.

Other IPL owners who arrived in Mumbai for the meeting include Kiran Kumar Grandhi, co-owner of Delhi Capitals, Sanjiv Goenka (Lucknow Super Giants), Rupa Gurunath (Chennai Super Kings), Kavya Maran (Sunrisers Hyderabad).Rajasthan Royals had co-owner Manoj Badale, CEO Jake Luck McCrum and Executive Chairman Ranjit Barthakur in attendance, so as Amit Soni (Gujarat Titans) and Prathmesh Mishra (Royal Challengers Bengaluru). A few owners attended the meeting via video conferencing, which included the Ambani family of Mumbai Indians.