Ahead of the 2022 season, when franchises were allowed to retain a maximum of four players, the obligation was to not retain more than three Indian players and two overseas players. (File)
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to allow the IPL franchise to retain five players with no right to match option available at the upcoming IPL auction. Retaining five players means, it opens the door for Mumbai Indians to retain their core which includes Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya.
In a recent meeting at its headquarters, BCCI had a discussion with all the 10 team owners about the player retainership. And a majority of them wanted to retain 5-6 players as it would give them continuity. And it is understood that after weighing in their request the BCCI has adhered to the request as it believes retaining up to five players will also ensure the franchises’ brand value is also protected.
Ahead of the 2022 season, when franchises were allowed to retain a maximum of four players, the obligation was to not retain more than three Indian players and two overseas players. However, there is no clarity this as of now as to how many overseas players can be retained by each franchise.
Big calls for MI
With five players likely to be retained, all eyes are on Mumbai Indians now. While their core has remained the same over the past decade, after an underwhelming season this year under Pandya’s captaincy it would be interesting to see how they line up their retainers.
The BCCI is yet firm up the retention costs for the upcoming auction.
In 2022, when Mumbai retained four players, Rohit got the highest pay bracket at Rs 16 crore followed by Bumrah (Rs 12 cr), Suryakumar (Rs 8 cr) and Kieron Pollard (Rs 6 cr). This time, with the stocks of Bumrah and Suryakumar raising, it would be interesting to see the price at which they are retained, provided they get into an agreement with the players.
With the BCCI deciding on the number of retentions, the upcoming player auctions will be a big one. During the meeting, a majority of the franchises which are part of the tournament since its inception, wanted the big auctions to take place in a four or five year cycle. Citing continuity they wanted the BCCI to delay the big player auctions by a year as they were not keen on losing key talents they had invested in. The last two big player auctions were held in a four-year cycle (2018 and 2022).
Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan was among those who were in favour of not having big auctions this year. Apart from KKR, Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans were also pushing for the big auctions to be postponed.
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