Reduced to being spectators in the last three months with the cricket board busy sorting out the IPL mess that followed Lalit Modi’s suspension, the franchise owners finally got an opportunity to put forth their views on Thursday.
In their first meeting with the BCCI’s top brass without the suspended IPL chairman in Mumbai, the franchises demanded, among other things, that the IPL increase the salary cap available to them in the players’ auction later this year, and that the current format of the tournament is not tinkered with.
With the addition of two new teams — Pune and Kochi — from the next season, the 60-game event will become a 94-game one. The board had initially planned to reduce the number of games by splitting the teams into two groups, with a total of 68 matches. But most of the franchises say they want the existing format of home and away games to be retained. “The franchises are of the view that the current format should be retained, with one home game and one away,” Royal Challengers Bangalore owner Vijay Mallya said after the meeting, which was attended by BCCI president Shashank Manohar and IPL interim chief Chirayu Amin.
“There were suggestions to restrict the schedule to 10 matches (per franchise). But our view is that we would like the earlier format to continue... Our revenues will take a hit if the number of games are decreased,” he added.
The owners also suggested that all players should go into the auction pool (no player is retained), and that the salary cap be raised to $9 million from $7 million. “Most franchisees suggested there should be an open players’ auction (with none retained by a franchise). A fresh start for all teams would be better,” Mr Mallya said.
The current rules say that teams can only spend $7 million in the auction. There is, however, no limit on the amount spent on players outside the auction pool.
The franchises have also sought compensation for extra costs incurred due to IPL-2’s move to South Africa. Security concerns had forced the organisers to seek an alternative host for the 2008 edition, but teams’ expenditure spiralled because of it.
That apart, there’s an outstanding amount that the IPL owes the franchises and hasn’t been settled yet.
The board has made it clear that all areas of concern will be looked into, and also pledged more openness in franchisee dealings from now on, including on accounting matters. It took the first step on the day itself, by forming a new three-man committee comprising Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi to make recommendations to the board based on Thursday’s discussions.
B. Vanchi, a director of the GMR Group, which owns the Delhi Daredevils, said he was happy to see the board’s willingness to discuss all the concerns of the franchisees.
“Suggestions have been taken on every issue: player retention, auction, cap, squad cap, salary cap, everything. They have constituted a committee which will make suitable recommendations and there will be further discussions between the franchises.”