BCCI-IPL franchise owners meeting: KKR, SRH not in favor of mega auction - Reports
A huge debate over mega auction took place at the meeting between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials and Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise owners at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on Wednesday, July 31. Reportedly, some franchise owners, including Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) Shah Rukh Khan and Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) Kavya Maran, were against the mega auction taking place.
A mega auction is scheduled to be held ahead of the 2025 IPL season. The previous mega auction took place in 2022 and received a mixed response. Even successful sides like Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) struggled to come to terms with the change as each franchise was allowed to retain only four players each.
As per a report in Cricbuzz, the mega auction was the main point of discussion at the meeting between BCCI and IPL team owners. The report added that quite a few raised their voices against the auction. According to the website, at one point Shah Rukh was said to have engaged in a heated argument with Ness Wadia, Punjab Kings' (PBKS) co-owner. The debate was said to be about number of retentions. SRH owner Maran supported KKR over having more retentions.
Kiran Kumar Grandhi (Delhi Capitals) Sanjiv Goenka (Lucknow Super Giants), Rupa Gurunath (Chennai Super Kings), Kavya Maran (Sunrisers Hyderabad) and Manoj Badale (Rajasthan Royals) were among the owners present at the much-awaited meeting. Some owners, including Mumbai Indians' (MI) Ambanis, attended the meeting via video conference.
The report also added that Jindal spoke to the media after the meeting and confirmed that he was in favor of a mega auction. He also admitted that there was a debate over the Impact Player rule, with franchises for and against it.
BCCI issues statement after meeting with IPL franchise owners
The BCCI is said to have issued an official statement over the meeting with IPL franchise owners over many significant matters including auction, Impact Player rule and retentions.
"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," the BCCI release said, as quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
The BCCI is likely to revert to the IPL franchises about the rules and changes if any by August end.