Coming soon: IPLs biggest battle so far

The two new franchisee owners Pune and Kochi have been enjoying a first-hand taste of the Indian Premier League as privileged guests at various venues.

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The two new franchisee owners Pune and Kochi have been enjoying a first-hand taste of the Indian Premier League as privileged guests at various venues. That will be where the hospitality ends though,with conflicts almost certain to come up in the run-up to September auction of players. With the stage for a big battle of words over the next few months,we take a look at the problem areas that will be up for discussion.

The event

A fresh auction of Indian and foreign players will be held in September for the next three seasons. The salary cap has been raised from 5m to 7m. As many as 500 players are expected to go under the hammer with a total budget of 70 million in a single day. Each franchisee can sign up to a maximum of ten foreign players in their squad.

The bone of contention

Existing franchises want to retain two international and two Indian players from their present squads. They are citing branding and sponsorship reasons the primary source of revenue for not letting go their star players as it has taken three years to cultivate brand recognition. Interestingly,most franchises are yet to break even and believe holding back players are part of early bird deals.

Counterpoint

The Pune and Kochi teams are demanding a level playing field,insisting that despite an open auction holding back 32-36 top players will keep them at a disadvantage while forming teams. Also,they counter the early bird theory saying they should have the whole field to choose from as they have paid higher prices to buy franchises.

Players point

While no player has come out in the open yet,its no secret that a few of the stars are unhappy about the proposition of not being up for auction. The concept of icon players has been done away with,which means the big names could end up earning less money than others picked up at the auction.

Which stars?

Chennai Super Kings were among the first ones to come out in the open against a fresh auction in order to retain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Sachin Tendulkar,Virender Sehwag,Gautam Gambhir,Zaheer Khan,Chris Gayle,Yusuf Pathan,Suresh Raina,Yuvraj Singh,Kevin Pietersen,Ross Taylor,Rohit Sharma,Andrew Symonds,David Warner,Dirk Nannes,Virat Kohli,Robin Uthappa and a host of other names are likely to be retained. In fact,its expected that the entire Indian side selected for the World T20 will be kept away.

Ramifications

If the proposal to retains players is upheld,then second-choice players will be hot properties at the auction,and will command a much higher price from the new franchisees who will have entire 7m to splurge.

Verdict

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IPL commissioner Lalit Modi and the governing council are expected to take up the matter in June and debate the proposal to retain players extensively.