The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises have recommended a two-year ban on overseas players who make themselves unavailable for the season after being bought at the IPL auction without legitimate cause.
This proposal aims to address recurring issues faced by the teams due to unexpected player withdrawals.
In a crucial meeting held on Wednesday in Mumbai, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials and the owners of the IPL franchises discussed significant changes for the IPL 2025 mega auction.
A primary outcome of this meeting was the recommendation by IPL franchises for a two-year ban on overseas players who pull out of the tournament after the auction without valid reasons.
Reasons for the Proposed Ban in IPL
Many IPL teams have been hurt by overseas players pulling out on the eve of a new season citing personal reasons.
They pointed out that such late pullouts have a detrimental effect on team performance because strategies are devised keeping these overseas names in mind and their sudden unavailability leaves the franchises scrambling to find IPL replacements from a much smaller pool of international talent.
The franchises told the IPL they could understand if the player’s board was pulling him out to honor an international commitment, or if he has suffered an injury, or has family commitments that render him incapable of joining the squad.
They were happy to make these allowances so long as there was clarity at the time of the auction about the player’s availability during the IPL season.
The problem the franchises are facing is that on several occasions, players who are bought at base price pull out post-auction in IPL. They even provided an example of a player’s manager telling a franchise his client could be available if he was paid more.
Manipulation of IPL Auction Process
The franchises also told the IPL that there were several instances of prominent overseas players skipping the mega auctions over the last two cycles (2018-24) but making themselves available for the mini-auctions to attract big bids. This tends to happen because of the short supply of high-quality talent in IPL mini-auctions.
The franchises felt some of these players and their managers were attempting to game the system so it was essential for the IPL to put certain checks in place.
The franchises said they understood if a new or upcoming overseas player registered for mini-auctions, but bigger names had to register for IPL mega auctions. If they go unsold, then they could enter the mini-auction the following season.