India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Robin Uthappa said that the BCCI should end the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction process as it makes cricketers feel like a commodity of cattle. He also talked about the mental anguish for players who do not get picked by any franchise in the auction.
Robin Uthappa was re-signed by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for his base price of Rs. 2 crores in the IPL 2022 auction, where the 10 teams spent over INR 550 crores to buy 204 players out of 600 who had registered.
However, Uthappa has called for the IPL to put an end to the auction system, saying that players feel like cattle while their name is put under the hammer.
Talking to News 9's Mind over Medals podcast, Uthappa said, "The auction feels like an examination which you have written a long time ago, and you're just awaiting the results. You feel like cattle (commodity), to be honest.
It's not the most pleasing feeling, and I think that's the thing about cricket, especially in India… everything about you is there for the world to consume and then judge and express their opinions about it. Having an opinion about performances is one thing, but having an opinion on how much you get sold for is quite something else."
The right-hander suggested the BCCI adopt some other system, like a draft that is more respectful to the players.
"You can't imagine what the guys who don't get sold go through. It cannot be pleasant. My heart goes out to guys who have been there for a long time and then miss out and don't get picked. It can be defeating sometimes. Suddenly your value as a cricketer becomes about how much somebody is willing to spend on you, and it's so haphazard… there is no method to the madness.
People have tried their best to kind of grapple around it for the last 15 years, and I don't know if they have a clue because if you speak to a lot of the people who have been there at the auction, they'll say 'you know it's so random. if you'd come later you'd probably have made more money… if you'd come earlier there'd have been enough money so you'd have made more'. I really hope for the sake of the sanity of everybody that this goes into a draft system where it is more respectful," concluded Uthappa.
The IPL 2022 is slated to begin in late March.
