Parth Jindal of Delhi Capitals (DC), revealed that the IPL franchise owners were divided in their thoughts on whether to have a mega auction for IPL 2025. He also said a few franchises were also against impact player rule, including Delhi Capitals.
With the major auction about to take place ahead of the 18th season of the T20 league next year, the BCCI arranged a meeting here at its headquarters to address the pointers, which Secretary Jay Shah acknowledged during the meeting.
Among the team owners or co-owners who attended the meeting were Shah Rukh Khan from Kolkata Knight Riders, Kavya Maran from Sunrisers Hyderabad, Ness Wadia from Punjab Kings, Sanjiv Goenka with his son Shashwat from Lucknow Super Giants, KK Grand and Parth Jindal from Delhi Capitals.
Manoj Badale and Ranjit Barthakur from Rajasthan Royals, Prathamesh Mishra from Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Kari Viswanathan and Rupa Gurunath from Chennai Super Kings, Amit Soni from Gujarat Titans while Mumbai Indians' owners attended it online.
Parth Jindal, the director of JSW Sports which owns the Delhi Capitals, said there was "no real outcome" from the meeting as the teams looked to stick to their opinions on all the matters discussed.
"No real outcome. It was just to hear all the different perspectives from all the owners and the BCCI has heard us and now they will give us all the rules. Hopefully, by the end of August we will get to know the rules for the next cycle,” Jindal told reporters after the meeting.
Jindal agreed that there is a dispute about whether there should be an auction in the IPL at all, but added that the Delhi Capitals are not opposed to having one.
"There was, yeah, I was surprised. There was a debate. Some people said that there should not be a mega auction at all. There should be only smaller auctions. I'm not in that camp. I feel that it (auction) evens the playing field and it's very good for everyone. It makes the IPL what it is. It makes it competitive. It makes it an even playing field. We're not on the same page on many issues. But I think the BCCI, in their wisdom, will decide. I think the president and secretary will decide," he added.
Jindal also stated that the Delhi Capitals are opposed to the impact player regulation while providing his opinions.
"Impact player rule, again, (there were) different views from different people. Some people want it because it gives a chance to young players to play in the IPL. Some people don't want it because it is detrimental to Indian cricket in terms of the development of all-rounders so it's a mixed bag.
I'm in the second camp. I don't want it. I prefer the game as it is — 11 versus 11. I think all-rounders are very important. You have different players who don't bowl in the IPL or don't bat in the IPL because of this rule, which is not good for Indian cricket," Jindal said.
Teams are not likely to be allowed to retain more than five players with one Right to Match (RTM) card. The RTM card allows a franchise to match the final bid of a player from their squad of the previous season.
The BCCI secretary later confirmed to the media that the board will be taking its decisions soon on all the points that were discussed.
(PTI inputs)
