IPL owners' meeting: KKR, SRH among franchises against mega auctions

The meeting with IPL franchise owners was called to discuss modalities and number of retentions ahead of the mega auction. It turned into a debate on the relevance and future of mega auctions. After a heated exchange of views among some franchises in the meeting hall on the fourth floor of the BCCI headquarters at the Wankhede Stadium, the board stated it would communicate its decision to the teams in the coming weeks.

Quite a few voices were raised against the 'mega auction' and the chief advocates of its discontinuation were Kolkata Knight Riders's Shah Rukh Khan and Sunrisers Hyderabad's Kavya Maran, incidentally the two were the finalists of IPL 2024, who unmistakably want to hold on to their high-performing sides. Their contention, though, has been that teams need continuity for brand-building and fan engagement.

According to a top BCCI source, who was part of the meeting, Shah Rukh fiercely made the case against the mega auction. 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 the number of retentions.

After the meeting Wadia denied any animosity with the KKR owner. "I have known Shah Rukh for more than 25 years. There is no animosity here," the co-owner of Punjab Kings said, refusing to dwell upon his side's position on the issue. "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," he said.

KKR found support in SRH owner Maran, who said her franchise's preference is for mini auction rather than a mega auction. According to sources, her stand on the issue during the meeting was: "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."

Among those who were against too many retentions was Parth Jindal of Delhi Capitals. "I was surprised that there was debate on whether to hold the big auction," he said. "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. What we are learning is that team owners don't want the auction. It's just a few owners."

Jindal said he was also against the continuation of Impact Player rule which has divided the IPL community. "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 all-rounders. So it's a mixed bag. I'm in the second camp. I don't want it. I prefer the game as it is, XI vs XI. I think all-rounders are very important. 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," he said.

The other owners who turned up at meeting were Kiran Kumar Grandhi, also of Delhi Capitals, Sanjiv Goenka of Lucknow Super Giants, Rupa Gurunath of Chennai Super Kings, Manoj Badale of Rajasthan Royals and Prathmesh Mishra of Royal Challengers Bangalore. A few owners attended the meeting via video conference, including the Ambanis of Mumbai Indians.

The BCCI later released a statement saying, "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. "The BCCI will now take these recommendations to the IPL Governing Council for further deliberation and evaluation before formulating the IPL player regulations."