Mumbai: “There are much bigger people you would like to speak to,” quipped Rajasthan Royals owner Manoj Badale as he evaded making a media comment after a three-hour brainstorming session of IPL owners with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday.

Minutes later, Kolkata Knight Riders owner and superstar Shah Rukh Khan, sporting dark glasses, a black jacket and a gelled ponytail, would rush away in his Rolls-Royce. Badale wasn’t just referring to the difference in style quotient.

A key focus area of the gathering revolved around the continuation of IPL’s unique player auction; at least of the mega variety where squads get majorly rejigged every four years. At least two franchise owners from KKR and Sunrisers Hyderabad — there were others with tacit support — spoke of the need to move away from the mega auction for squad continuity, to sustain their feeder programs and facilitate brand building.

The IPL auction cancels out any divide, ensuring even the owner of the country’s largest private corporation has equal competition from other competing franchises. That’s not to say that other means, like player trades for squad formation as seen in other sporting leagues, would not ensure purchasing power parity, so long as there is a salary cap in place. But watching the rich and famous, restrained by salary purse, penny pinching with paddles in hand to complete their squads has grown into an eagerly awaited spectacle.

The BCCI is mulling over the stream of suggestions it has received, but the ‘mega auction should stay’ according to a leading BCCI official. Primarily because the board believes it has served the purpose every time franchises have been added to the mix — for expansion or because a few teams fizzled out of the ecosystem. Be it Pune Warriors, Kochi Tuskers, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Lucknow Super Giants or Gujarat Titans, each franchise that entered the IPL party midway benefitted from the mega auction to become competitive.

Besides, BCCI holds a view that the suggestions of franchise owners are driven by self-interest, while the Governing Council has to be seen to be fair to all.

Right To Match

KKR and SRH were this year’s finalists with a strong playing core, which they would like to keep intact. Assuming the auction stays, KKR propagated the use of 8 Right to Match (RTM) cards in the auction. SRH, who has a stronger overseas playing pool, are out to protect that. “SRH wanted complete freedom on retaining players — whether Indian or overseas,” said one official from the meet. Teams like Punjab Kings, who have had a middling record, are known to have batted for the mega auction to stay. PBKS owner Ness Wadia spoke about ‘the excitement of the auctions’ while talking to reporters.

More of MS Dhoni?

CSK’s suggestion to re-introduce a rule done away with in 2021, where players retired from international cricket for five years or more years are deemed as uncapped players, is being seen as an attempt to offer a possible lifeline for MS Dhoni, 43, to continue playing without the franchise’s salary purse having to take a big hit. The BCCI may create a retention slot for uncapped players. Dhoni announced his international retirement on August 15, 2020. The cricket icon hasn’t ruled himself out from continuing. “Once the rules and regulations get formalised, I will take a call, but it needs to be in the best interest of the team,” Dhoni said at an event this week.

Lucknow Super Giants are known to have advocated fewer retentions in the meeting as they are keen for a squad rejig. “If they get it right in the auction, they will be the ones asking for more retentions in the next cycle,” said an IPL official.

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