IPL 2018: Retentions to continue but franchisees can't go against player's wishes

Mumbai: With the Indian Premier League getting bigger year by year, the 2018 edition of the cash-rich tournament will once again witness many players being going under the hammer. But fans of franchises such as Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore shouldn’t be worried about the auctions of Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma as the player retention policy is set to continue for the following year.

However, a call is yet to be taken on the limit of the players to be retained by each team that will be decided in the franchise owners meeting arranged on November 21.

“The retention policy would be there in all possibility. This is what the majority of franchises want. The only issue we need to thrash out is the number of players who can be retained. We need to work out whether it would be three or five players. For this very purpose, we have called the meeting of franchise owners on November 21 in Mumbai,” a top BCCI official was quoted saying by the Times of India.

With Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiant set to discontinue from the current campaign, Rajasthan Royal (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who are returning following a two-year spot-fixing ban, will have the right to retain their old players.

“The first preference would always remain with RR and CSK. The IPL GC had been clear about it from the beginning. But if these players want to go to the auction pool, then these two franchises can’t do anything about it,” he added.

Earlier, there were multiple reports suggesting that franchisees were preparing a big-money move for Mumbai Indians star Hardik Pandya after he expressed his desire to leave the three-time champions. And it could turn out true with the official adding that it all depends on the player's wishes, despite the amount of cash the franchisee has to offer.

 “The players would be given the option to decide over continuing with respective franchises or joining the auction pool. It will depend solely on them. Even if a franchise decides to open up its purse for a particular player, it can’t do so against his wishes. If a player has made up his mind to go under the hammer, no one can stop him. He will stay back only if he’s satisfied with the new offer his franchise is making,” he expressed.