The scheduled meeting of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise owners in Ahmedabad on April 16 has been postponed, as informed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to the franchise owners, citing changes in the IPL program.
A new date for the meeting has not been communicated yet, despite some franchises taking a firm stance against increasing the number of retentions.
The purpose of the meeting was to deliberate on the future course of the IPL, particularly in anticipation of the mega-auction next year.
The BCCI leadership sought input from the owners regarding the number of retentions allowed and the player purse size.
While there’s discussion about expanding the current four retentions and increasing the player purse beyond the existing cap of Rs 100 crore, there’s also support for limiting retentions to one and granting franchises more Right To Match (RTM) options.
This approach is argued to be more market-driven and transparent, aiming to avoid potential underhand payments to players associated with retention.
The RTM mechanism enables franchises to secure their existing players at prices determined during the live auction.
However, concerns exist about the possibility of certain franchises artificially inflating bidding prices to force interested teams to pay more, with the risk of being bound to purchase the player at the inflated cost.
While the discussion revolves around eight retentions, there’s advocacy for one retention and seven RTM options.
The BCCI’s stance on the matter remains unclear.
The meeting between BCCI/IPL officials and franchise promoters was originally planned to coincide with an IPL game between Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals in Ahmedabad.
However, this game has been postponed by a day, as the BCCI rescheduled the Kolkata Knight Riders-Rajasthan Royals game at Eden Gardens to April 16 due to Rama Navami festivities in Kolkata, with security concerns raised by the city police.
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