A new proposal has been put forward to allow Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises to retain a maximum of five players, for the next three seasons.
IPL 7 kicks off next year and players are set to go into the auction pool, after completing three years with their respective teams, following the 2011 auction. Every franchise was allowed to retain up to four players in 2011, and the new proposal targets increasing that quota up to five.
There is spending cap of ₹60 crore on every franchise for buying players. And if any team decides to retain five of their players in the auction, a sum of ₹39 crore would be deducted from their purse, meaning they would be left with a budget of just ₹21 crore for the auction to form the rest of their 27-man squad.
Effectively, teams will have to shell out around 65 per cent of their budget to retain just five players. So it's likely that most franchises would choose not to retain all five players in the auctions this year.
All players who are not retained by their respective franchises will go into the auction pool. Franchises, which do not retain any players, will have to spend at least ₹36 crore at the auction, failing which they will be fined.
Some franchises have expressed their reservations over these new proposals but the final decision rests with the IPL governing council, which will meet in the next few days.
Meanwhile, the board has also come up with a proposal of helping teams retain another three players, apart from the first five, through a system known as 'joker card', which effectively gives them first refusal right on the player at the auction.
If any franchise wants to retain more than five of their players, they can explore this method. For example, if a team wishes to retain a sixth player they have to play the joker card in the auction, when another franchise buys him, by bidding the highest amount. The joker card will enable the old employer to retain the player, despite his sale to another team, though the bid amount would then be deducted from their budget.
However, the scheduling of IPL 7 still remains a concern with match dates likely to clash with the 2014 General Elections. Though it's unlikely to move the tournament out of India completely, speculation claims a few games could be hosted by Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Also, the board had decided earlier this year to make all IPL transactions in rupee from this season onwards. All IPL-related transactions have been done according to dollar rates so far.
