Reports: BCCI to host mega-auction before IPL 2025 despite KKR, SRH’s objection

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials are not planning to change their stance on hosting the mega auction before IPL 2025. In a meeting with the officials, KKR and SRH co-owners, Shah Rukh Khan and Kavya Maran respectively spoke for continuity as they felt it was vital for team building, brand promotion, and fan loyalty among a few other things.

A few other owners also proposed the idea of hosting the mega auction every five years. They appealed to postpone the upcoming mega auction to 2026 but as per reports, BCCI officials are not agreeing too much to their proposals. They have decided to allow the franchises to retain 6-8 players including that through retention and RTM cards. The governing council is currently working on finalizing the details regarding the number of retentions as everything is expected to get finalised before the end of the month.

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Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals’ co-owner Parth Jindal revealed that he is all up for having a mega-auction every three years. He added that during the meeting with the BCCI officials, there was a debate on the future of mega-auction but Jindal believes that to have a competitive tournament, it is important to have an even playing field.

“There was a debate. Some people said that there should not be a mega auction at all... I’m not in that camp. I feel that it evens the playing field and it’s very good for everyone. It makes the IPL what it is. It makes it competitive,” Jindal was quoted as saying by The Telegraph.

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During the meeting, there were also talks of the Impact Player rule. A few franchises wanted to get rid of it, as it restricts the all-rounders from growth but BCCI is likely to have it in the upcoming season as well. Meanwhile, the budget of each franchise is also likely to be increased and the details of the same will be revealed when BCCI finalises the retention rule.