Arguably the most celebrated and most popular T20 franchise league in the world, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has seen some exciting contests over the years, with tournaments held in India, South Africa and even the UAE over the different editions played so far. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has commercialised the league well over time and has ensured it witnessed tremendous growth.
Before every edition, a few hundred players go under the hammer in what we call the IPL Auction, where the various franchises try to pick up some newly available players who weren’t available in the previous season. This could be as additional signings of as replacements to other players in the squad, as long as the maximum squad limit isn’t surpassed by any of the teams.
What is an IPL Auction?
Answering the question above, the IPL Auction on an annual basis helps teams add to their rosters. But it works in an auction / bidding system as some players are super popular and wanted by multiple teams. To help break the tie, the bidding system is followed and the player ultimately goes to the team which is willing to pay him the most. The auctioneer picks out a name and the bidding wars begin!
This is of course, unless Team C uses the Right to Match (RTM) card which allows them to match the last bid amount by Team A or Team B to get the player, but this is possible only if that player was part of Team C in the previous season. In this entire situation, teams are allotted a fixed amount in budget (Purse) which can’t be exceeded, so that all the good players don’t end up going to the richest team owners.
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These have proven to be super exciting, with millions of fans from India and the rest of the world tuning in every year to see where their favourite players will go next, and how much each player will fetch in terms of money (contract fees). Players are put into different categories to spice it up even further, with the differentiation being in terms of their base price categories. The highest base price is set at Rs.2 Crore!
What is an IPL mega auction?
When these IPL Auctions take place, most contracts are offered to players for multiple years. However, the organisers have found that it’s good to shuffle things up for the sake of entertainment and engagement among fans, and hence the concept of an IPL Mega Auction. As compared to every normal year, franchises are only allowed to retain as many as 4 players ahead of every mega auction.
They usually get to retain many more players each year, but are very restricted when it comes to a mega auction. And this mega auction typically takes place every 3 years in the IPL. It adds so much drama and entertainment to this game we love, with player and team relationships and loyalty coming to the fore, and speculation ending up being the most exciting factor!
How is RTM used?
Each team is allowed to retain a maximum of four players in an IPL mega auction, as mentioned above. This retention can be with a combination of direct retention and the RTM card. If teams choose to retain all 4 players directly, then they cannot use an RTM card in the IPL mega auction. Also, these retentions should be a maximum of 3 Indian players and a maximum of 2 overseas players!
We hope we’ve addressed our queries and questions as to what is an IPL mega auction and how it works. In case of any further queries, don’t feel shy to drop in your comments and/or write to us at admin@readscoops.com. For similar updates on cricket from around the world, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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