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Parth Jindal, a co-owner of the Delhi Capitals (DC), wants the Impact Player regulation eliminated, while Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) owner Kavya Maran suggested keeping at least seven players and without putting any limits on the amount of foreign players that can be bought back. The idea of holding a massive auction every five years was likewise divided in the vote. These were some of the topics covered in the Wednesday, Mumbai, meeting between the BCCI and the ten IPL franchise owners.
The purpose of the discussion, which took place at the BCCI office, was to talk about a number of issues pertaining to retentions for the 2025 IPL season. The right-to-match (RTM) card option and the creation of a specific category for the auction for uncapped players to incentivise teams that have scouted and developed young talent were further topics of debate.
The Impact Player regulation was initially intended to increase exposure for Indian players, particularly those without caps. Leading athletes and coaches countered that it was not levelling the playing field; India’s captain for both Test and ODI cricket, Rohit Sharma, expressed his disapproval of the rule, claiming it would impede the “development” of allrounders.
The most crucial issue on the agenda was retention, which according to Jindal was “all up in the air” because different teams were demanding different amounts. Maran reportedly requested at least seven retentions. It is understandable given that SRH’s roster includes a number of well-known players. In addition to skipper Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Reddy, and T Natarajan all contributed significantly to SRH’s 2024 season-ending second place position.
After the IPL confirmed the retention number, Maran asked that the league not place a cap on the number of Indians, both capped and uncapped, that a team could keep. She stated that they will want to keep as many foreign players as possible.
Some clubs, notably SRH, had requested in their meeting with Amin that the IPL give them the freedom to negotiate retention payments with the players rather than assigning them a retention slab, as has been customary in past mega auctions.
Maran is said to have proposed that the IPL establish a figure based on the quantity of players kept, after which the team would bargain with the players.
Apart from Jindal and Maran, other owners who were present at the meeting were Shah Rukh Khan (principal owner of KKR), Manoj Badale and Ranjit Barthakur (principal owner and chair of Rajasthan Royals respectively), Kiran Gandhi (DC co-owner), Rupa Gurunath and Kasi Viswanathan (owner and CEO of CSK respectively), Prathmesh Mishra and Rajesh Menon (chair and vice-president at Diageo, the group that owns RCB), Sanjiv Goenka and Shashwat Goenka (LSG owner and his son), Ness Wadia (co-owner of Punjab Kings), Amit Soni (CVC Partners, owners of Gujarat Titans) and Akash Ambani (Mumbai Indians owner), who is understood to have attended virtually.