Photo: Collected
IPL franchise owners called Wednesday (31July), to discuss modalities and number of retentions ahead of the mega auction.KKR and SRH point of view against auctions.
In a consequences It turned into a debate on the relevance and future of mega auctions that heated exchange of views among some franchises in the meeting hall on the fourth floor of the BCCI headquarters at the Wankhede Stadium.
However, the board stated it would communicate its decision to the teams in the coming weeks.
According to a top BCCI source, who was part of the meeting, Shah Rukh fiercely made the case against the mega auction. At one stage, the KKR owner was also believed to be engaged in a heated argument with Ness Wadia, the co-owner of Punjab Kings, over the number of retentions.
After the meeting Wadia denied any animosity with the KKR owner. "I have known Shah Rukh for more than 25 years. There is no animosity here," the co-owner of Punjab Kings said, refusing to dwell upon his side's position on the issue.
"Everyone gave their views, and they had their opinions. At the end of the day, you have to look at all the stakeholders and do what's best for all. That's most important," he said.
KKR found support in SRH owner Maran, who said her franchise's preference is for mini auction rather than a mega auction. According to sources, her stand on the issue during the meeting was: "It takes a lot of time to build a squad and as discussed it also takes quite a bit of time and investment for the younger players to mature. It has taken Abhishek Sharma three years to become consistent with his performances. You would agree that there are many such examples in other teams too."
The BCCI later released a statement saying, "The franchise owners tabled feedback on player regulations and other commercial aspects, including central merchandising, licensing, and gaming," the BCCI said in a media release. "The BCCI will now take these recommendations to the IPL Governing Council for further deliberation and evaluation before formulating the IPL player regulations.
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