IPL teams can 'retain' up to six players
Indranil Basu,
TNN | Dec 24, 2013
NEW DELHI:
The Indian Premier League (IPL) governing council (GC) has decided to allow franchises to retain five players before the 2014 auctions.
The teams can, however, buy back another player through the 'matching card' system (joker's card). This sixth cricketer can be an Indian uncapped player or a foreigner.
The joker's card is a system which allows a team with a card to make what the BCCI calls a 'matching bid' in the auction. This means if a team cannot retain a player and he is put up for auction, that team will still get a chance to 'buy' the player back if it can match the bid once the auction is complete, since it will retain a first right of refusal.
According to insiders in the board, the IPL teams were told about this on Monday. Now, these franchises will meet to decide whom to retain and whom to release. "If a team retains three to five cricketers, they will be permitted to produce a 'match card' for one more cricketer, which could be an uncapped Indian cricketer or a foreigner," an insider told TOI on Monday.
Sources also said that if a team retains only one or two cricketers, they will get two joker's cards. And if any team doesn't retain any cricketer, that particular side will get three joker's cards in the auction.
Earlier, BCCI had proposed five cricketers for retention and another three players from the joker's card system, where the original team gets the first right of refusal. Sources said that there were several demands and pressures from teams to increase the retention list to eight. However, the IPL GC walked the middle path. "We have worked out a solution, which will enable teams to have the best combination," a source said.
"If any team wants to retain four foreigners and an Indian, that is also permissible. There is no restriction on that. But at the end of it, if a team is retaining five cricketers, they will have to ensure that at least one Indian or foreign cricketer is there in the list," another source explained.
As reported by TOI earlier, if a team retains all their five players, they will have to shell out Rs 39 crore from a total purse of Rs 60 crore. The rest of the buying in the auction would have to be done with a tight purse of Rs 21 crore. Plus, if that team retains another player through joker's card, the salary of that player would be deducted from Rs 21 crore. This could deter teams from retaining the permitted number of players, which is what the BCCI wants.
