The purpose of the meeting with IPL franchise owners was to go over the procedures and quantity of retentions in advance of the super auction. It became a discussion about the viability and future of large-scale auctions. Following a contentious discussion among certain franchises in the conference room located on the fourth floor of the BCCI headquarters at Wankhede Stadium, the board said that it will notify the teams of its decision within the upcoming weeks.
Many people voiced their opposition to the "mega auction," with Shah Rukh Khan of the Kolkata Knight Riders and Kavya Maran of Sunrisers Hyderabad—both of whom were the 2024 IPL finalists—leading the charge to end it. They both clearly wanted to keep their successful teams. However, their argument has been that teams want consistency to foster fan interaction and brand promotion.
A senior BCCI insider who attended the meeting claims that Shah Rukh vehemently argued against the massive auction. The co-owner of Punjab Kings, Ness Wadia, and the owner of KKR were rumored to have gotten into a furious fight at one point on the number of retentions.
Wadia denied having any ill will toward the owner of KKR after the meeting. "I have been acquainted with Shah Rukh for over 25 years. The co-owner of Punjab Kings stated, "There is no animosity here," avoiding discussing his side's stance on the matter. "Everyone shared their perspectives and points of view. In the end, you have to consider all parties involved and act in everyone's best interests. That's what matters most," he declared.
SRH owner Maran, who stated that her team prefers a mini auction over a huge sale, offered support to KKR. "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," is reportedly how she positioned herself during the discussion. Abhishek Sharma's performances have been inconsistent during the past three years. You acknowledge that other teams also have a plethora of similar instances."
One of the people who objected to excessive retentions was Delhi Capitals player Parth Jindal. "I was surprised that there was a debate on whether to hold the big auction," he stated. "Someone expressed the opinion that there should be no big auction at all. All that ought to happen is smaller auctions. That's not my camp. It levels the playing field, in my opinion, and benefits everyone greatly. The IPL wouldn't exist without it. It becomes competitive as a result. It creates level playing fields. It appears that club owners are against the auction. There are only a few owners.
Jindal declared that he disagreed with the Impact Player rule's perpetuation, which has polarized the IPL community. Because it allows young players to participate in the IPL, some people are in favor of it. Some are against it because they believe it will hinder the growth of all-rounders in Indian cricket. That makes it a mixed bag. Right now, I'm in camp two. I'm not interested in it. I like the game better this way, XI vs XI. All-arounders, in my opinion, are crucial. Because of this regulation, several players are unable to bowl or bat in the Indian Premier League, which is bad for Indian cricket," he remarked.
The following owners attended the meeting: Sanjiv Goenka of the Lucknow Super Giants, Rupa Gurunath of the Chennai Super Kings, Manoj Badale of the Rajasthan Royals, Prathmesh Mishra of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Kiran Kumar Grandhi of the Delhi Capitals. A few owners, notably the Mumbai Indians' Ambanis, participated in the meeting virtually.
"The franchise owners tabled feedback on player regulations and other commercial aspects, including central merchandising, licensing, and gaming," the BCCI said in a media release thereafter. "The BCCI will now take these recommendations to the IPL Governing Council for further deliberation and evaluation before formulating the IPL player regulations."
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