Mumbai: Indian Premier League (IPL) Chairman Rajeev Shukla on Tuesday said the Governing Council will take a fortnight to finalise the roadmap for the next edition of the cash-rich league but refrained from revealing any information on a meeting with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) here.
“The meeting went off very well. Actually the whole idea was to invite the actual owners of the teams and solicit their views of the IPL,” Shukla, who chaired the meeting, said after the meeting that lasted nearly two hours in the presence of the BCCI office-bearers, executives and the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (COA).
“There were a number of issues including the number of players, salary cap of the players, the playing squad (numbers), and the total number of the teams. All these issues were discussed, other than the venue and dates for the auction and the inaugural ceremony.
“I think in a fortnight the Governing Council will finalise the details. Whether the IPL should have eight or 10 teams was also discussed. A majority of the franchises’ view was we should stick to eight teams,” he added.
Shukla also remained non-committal on the question over the number of players who can be retained by the franchises. “Right now, I can’t say anything until we take the decision about retention and right to match,” he said.
“A majority of the franchises were of the view that retention or right to match should be given, so we will keep that aspect in mind.” When asked about the number of players who are likely to be retained by each team, Shukla said: “We have taken their opinion. Somebody said three players, somebody said five players, somebody said more than five players, somebody said one player. So, majority we will take into account.”
The meeting witnessed top management representatives or owners of all the eight original teams voicing their opinion on a wide range of issues including the next year’s IPL auction.
Media reports say that two IPL team owners floated the idea of having next edition’s players’ auction in England but the suggestion could not find favour with the majority of the franchises during a meeting with the BCCI in Mumbai.
“Yes, there were discussions whether we could shift this year’s auction abroad. A couple of franchise owners suggested England as this will be a big auction with most players back in the pool. However majority of the members want it to be held in India,” a senior BCCI official said.
