An IPL team should be allowed to retain five players: Harsha Bhogle

The Indian Premier League has come a long way since it’s inception in the year 2008. Since then many leagues, inspired by the IPL, staged their own shows but it was nothing close to the Indian edition. The fan-connect in the IPL is extremely strong and the cricketers are being followed religiously. And therefore cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle feels retention policy is the way forward.

The 11th edition of the IPL, which will be played next year, will see some major changes as many of the big names will go under the hammer. Teams will have to part ways with many of their key players and certain names will be retained. The final verdict on the number of players that can be retained is yet to come. while many are in favour of player retention policy, there are a certain section of people who believe starting fresh is the only fair way.

Bhogfavour favor of retention

“I think 5 is the minimum that you must have for retention and there is a reason I say that. Some teams have made very good choices but even more than that there has to be a fan connect,” Harsha said in a Cricbuzz video.

“At the core of all organized leagues across the world, is the fan connect. People identify with teams, and they identify with players within the team. RCB has to be Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, CSK has to be Dhoni, MI has to be Rohit Sharma. You need these fans connect and that is why I think you need these retentions,” he opined.

“I like the auction, but increasingly I think the auction should become less and less important to allow teams to grow players and nurture them, pick young players, convert them into match winners. That is what all great teams do. That is why I am fan of retentions,” Harsha said.