July 8: One of the suggestions to be considered for the fourth season of IPL is whether there should be a salary cap of $2 million for players retained by the fanchises who would also be a part of the open common pool available to all 10 IPL franchises.
At a meeting with the league administrators, a couple of franchisees said they preferred to retain their core group of players. But that would put the two new teams at a disadvantage. A process is now being proposed by which seven core players could be kept on the rolls of their original teams, but they would also form a part of the open pool.
Teams can choose to keep their preferred players, but at a steep cost. “All those players also would go into the auction with a cap of $2 million. If the market forces pushed the bidding to the limit of $2 million and the franchise was still keen on the player, then they could retain him at that price,” an internal document circulated after the captains’ meeting says. It goes on to add: “The salary cap for the seasons to come was proposed at $8 million so any franchise wanting to retain players would have to be choosy about them.”
Expansion of the squad to 25 (from 23) is also being proposed. “Since a player could only play 14 matches plus the knockouts, a franchise could play five overseas players in league matches but not in the knockout stage.”
The ideas were put up to the GC at its last meeting but no decisions have yet been taken. The matter will come up at the next such gathering in August, a source said.
Another suggestion, said to have been put forward by one of the playing captains and which has found favour is to have the losing finalist take on the winner of the game between the losing semifinalists to decide which three sides qualify for the next Champions League. The tweak in the format will be put in place for the knockout phase of IPL 4.