The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has postponed the meeting between them and the IPL franchise owners which was originally scheduled to take place on April 16th, as per Cricbuzz. The apex Indian cricket board had confirmed this development as recently as last week, however, due to unknown circumstances, the meeting has been postponed indefinitely with new dates for the meeting not confirmed yet. This meeting would have happened on the day when Gujarat Titans were supposed to welcome the Delhi Capitals for a league match at the Narendra Modi stadium.
This particular meeting was called by the BCCI in order to discuss what’s in store for the Indian Premier League going forward. A lot of things were in the pipeline for a discussion like – the salary cap, the number of player retentions, the usage of the Right to Match (RTM) card, and the final limit on the money that a franchise can blow on a certain player. It was supposed to be a very important meeting but now all the franchises as well as the fans will have to wait a while before they find out the board’s next plan in IPL.
KKR Vs RR, DC Vs GT rescheduled
The meeting which was supposed to get underway in Ahmedabad in 6 days time has not been postponed alone. The fixture between DC and GT has also been postponed by a day whereas the tie between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals has been moved to a day early. That’s done so that the festival of Ram Navami undergoes smoothly in the state and it has also been done for security purposes. It will be difficult for Police forces to take care of two things at once, especially at a time when the General Elections are slowly approaching.
What would the BCCI discuss in the meeting?
The main agenda behind the meeting is that BCCI wants to understand the psychology and thought process of the franchise owners. In this meeting, only the franchise officials like Directors, CEOs, and people at corporate posts will be allowed. No one from the cricketing field like players, coaches, and mentors will be allowed to take part in it. The meeting is basically a way to figure out the best way forward for the league and through discussions with team owners, things will become much more easier.
And the main topic in this meeting will be the salary cap amount in the auctions. Last year we saw 2 players bag more than 20 crores each from the auctions. That is something the BCCI wants to talk about and then the biggest issue of them all – the player retention process. Some franchises are of the view that player retention numbers should be decreased from 4 to 1 whereas others want to see it go as high as 8.
Lastly, the RTM card and how it should be availed during auctions will also be on the list of discussions. If retentions get shrunk to less than 4, then the number of RTM cards will be increased. But nonetheless, it remains to be seen as to what comes out of the meeting organized by the BCCI when it takes place.
