IPL franchises could be allowed to retain a few players

After 10 wonderful seasons, the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be entering its second decade in existence and the fans just can’t wait for it. Over the years, IPL has thoroughly entertained one and all, no matter how many predicaments it had to face. It also emerged as one of the most lucrative leagues in sporting history, competing with the likes of EPL (football), NFL (American Soccer) and NBA (Basketball).

There have been a lot of rumors about the full-fledged auction that will take place in February 2018. Many believed that big players like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, and AB de Villiers will be in the auction as well as BCCI is looking forward to putting an end to the retention policy. Yet, that seemed highly unlikely to happen as the financial fair play would get subdued.

But new reports have emerged in the news, which suggest BCCI will be allowing franchises to retain few players. In the IPL Governing Council meeting, both terminated franchises Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were added back in the league. A senior BCCI member spoke to the media about the franchises and also the doubts lurking over the auction.

Each team can retain 3 players

Though there ain’t any official confirmation about the newly constructed policies, it is being said that the teams will be allowed to retain a maximum of 3 players. They can also exercise the right-to-match card for one player. This could be huge in the context of the auction as though many players will be retained, a lot of big names will still make it to the auction, which will just spice things a lot.

All the franchises were present in the IPL GC and apparently, few of them requested the board to expand their spending purse. As opposed to the Rs. 60 Crore threshold, few franchises want the limit to be extended to Rs. 80 Crore. Some other franchises requested the board to expand the purse to expand the limit to Rs. 75 Crore and according the senior official from BCCI, the limit will escalate to Rs. 75 Crore as the BCCI has consented.