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MUMBAI: If one of the suggestions by the franchises is implemented, the salary of a player, bought for say just Rs 30-50 lakh at the IPL mega auction in December this year, could be increased multiple times by the franchise-perhaps even to a few crores-if that player performs outstandingly in IPL 2025, TOI has learnt.
“The current system doesn’t allow for a player’s salary to be increased by a franchise once he’s bought in the IPL auction. Like most jobs, there’s no provision of increment. Suppose he’s bought for Rs 30 lakh and has an outstanding IPL, the franchise should have the option of offering him, say a Rs 3 crore fresh contract for the next year, rather than lose him to some other team. This will prevent poaching by other teams.
“The IPL needs to allow franchises to renegotiate the salary of a high-performing player. It will allow a team the option to retain its best players of the previous season without the worry that they would ask to be released or traded by other teams. The players would be happy about the handsome increment, while the franchises will be pleased to avoid poaching,” a franchise official told TOI.
Among other suggestions that the franchises have put forward in their individual meetings with IPL CEO Hemang Amin and other BCCI officials are: Conduct a mega auction only once in five years, allow teams to retain five players at the most, give each franchise as many as eight right to-match (RTM) options, and increase the salary purse to around Rs 130-140 crores.
The final picture of what will eventually be implemented will become clear when the BCCI holds its meeting with the IPL owners at the end of this month at the revamped BCCI office at Wankhede Stadium.
Why mega auction after 5 years?
Explaining why it would make sense to have a mega auction after every five years, a franchise official told TOI: “In order to ensure continuity, it makes sense to have a player auction every five years, instead of three. A longer gap between mega auctions would help teams get the best out of the players that they have invested in when they were youngsters.
“It will enable us, especially those who have academies at the grassroots level, to invest in player development. For example, a young Indian player takes a couple of years to develop, and then after three years, you lose that player suddenly in the mega auction. That’s just not fair.”
While initially there was talk that certain franchisees want as many as eight retentions, the final figure allowed could be much lesser. “Expect not more than five player retentions,” a source tracking the developments told TOI. It would be interesting to see if the RTM option is given to the franchises.
8 RTMs, an option?
In May, noted cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle had revealed that Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore wanted the IPL governing body to allow the franchises up to eight RTM cards instead of the usual player retentions. “Venky Mysore of KKR has come up with a workable suggestion which is that you should be allowed to retain players if they have a fair market value. So, no retentions but eight RTM cards,” Bhogle had said on his YouTube channel.
In the 2018 mega auction, a maximum of five players could be retained by each team. Of the five, three could be retained before the auction, and up to three could be bought back by a team through the RTM option in the auction. In the 2022 mega auction, when Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants entered the IPL, the eight other teams were allowed to retain four players, but the RTM options were not allowed because the BCCI wanted GT and LSG to have a larger player pool to choose from.
Salary cap set to be increased
The salary cap for each team is set to witness a massive increase-from Rs 90 crores to around Rs 130-140 crores.
“It has been pending for a while. The salary cap is likely to be increased from Rs 90 crores to Rs 130-140 crores. As per the media rights agreement in 2002, IPL 2025 & 26 will see 84 matches, while IPL 2027 will include 94 matches. It means more matches, with little gaps between them. The players are bound to ask for and expect more money,” a source said.
It’s also likely that there will be a discussion on the controversial Impact Player rule, though indications are that the rule may be implemented for one more year at least.
