IPL will impose ban on these overseas players

After making new rules and regulations for overseas players just before the start of the season, the IPL has imposed a blanket ban of two years on players. The rule is for those who make themselves unavailable on being bought at the auction without any valid reasons which include only verified injury or any other medical condition. This decision has come after mounting frustration from franchises whose plans were disrupted by pullouts by overseas players.

To avoid direct entry into major auctions for better payouts, the IPL has now brought in mandatory registration in mega auctions as a qualification condition to get into mini auctions. In addition, a new cap will be placed on the overseas players’ fee, pegged at either the highest retention price of INR 18 crore or the highest amount at which they may have been sold through the mega auction.

In a document shared with franchises listing the retention rules, the IPL said: “Any [overseas] player who registers for [an] auction and, after getting picked at the auction, makes himself unavailable before the start of the season will get banned from participating in the IPL/IPL auction for two seasons.” The only exception, the governing council said, will be for “an injury/medical condition, which will have to be confirmed by the [player’s] home board”.

The changes are very much in urgent need given that the recent auction results saw Mitchell Starc being bagged by KKR at INR 24.75 crore and Pat Cummins signing up with SRH at an INR 20.50 crore deal. In case of an excess, the surplus over the cap will go to the BCCI. The fee cap will be an exercise to check other forms of excessive bidding.

“Any overseas player’s auction fee at small auction will be lower of the highest retention price [of INR 18 crore] and the highest auction price at the big auction,” the IPL said in the document. “In case the highest auction price at the big auction is INR 20 crore, then INR 18 crore will be the cap. If the highest auction price at a big auction is INR 16 crore, then the cap will be INR 16 crore.

Changes here are on consistency and fairness in the auction process and not giving franchises a shock in terms of overseas players pulling out. Strict injury verification policies and a cap on mini-auction payouts by the IPL maintain a balance between talent distribution and of protecting franchises’ investments.