IPL 2022: BCCI mulling new policy to deter players from pulling out of IPL- Report

Franchises raised concerns over players pulling out of IPL after being bought for a small fee at the auction.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is contemplating coming out with a new policy that might deter players from pulling out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) without a solid reason. This move comes after a number of franchises shared their concerns with the IPL and BCCI management.

At the recent meeting of the Governing Council (GC) of the IPL, there was a debate among the members on ways to arrest a seeming trend of players pulling out after being bought for a small fee at the auction, Cricbuzz reported.

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"The GC has a commitment towards the franchises who are the important stakeholders of the league. They bid for a player after a lot of planning. Their calculations go haywire if a player pulls out, that too for flimsy reasons," said a GC member.

Though the definition of what qualifies as flimsy was not explained, the deterrent might involve players pulling out of the IPL to be put on some kind of a watchlist in future auctions.

"There will not be a sweeping policy that everyone who has pulled out of the IPL will be prevented for a certain number of years. It will be on a case-by-case basis and some research will be done before action is initiated. What if the reason is genuine," a source in the know said.  

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Amongst acceptable reasons to pull out of IPL commitment are injuries or international commitment, but recently, a couple of players pulled out citing different reasons.

The England duo of Jason Roy and Alex Hales, who was picked up by Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively, cited bubble fatigue as reasons to choose to opt-out of playing in IPL 2022.

While Roy was bought for his base price of INR 2 crores by GT in the IPL 2022 auction, Hales was picked up by KKR for his base price of INR 1.5 crores as well.

(Cricbuzz inputs)