New Delhi, India

An intense IPL franchise owners meeting took place at the BCCI headquarters, at the Wankhede Stadium, on Wednesday (Jul 31). The meeting was for the owners to put forth their views on the number of retentions ahead of this year's mega auction, later this year. It, however, turned into a debate on the relevance and future of the mega auctions with current champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) being against it whereas the likes of Delhi Capitals (DC) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) in favour of it.

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According to a top BCCI source (who was in the meeting), as per a report in Cricbuzz, KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan fiercely made the case against mega auctions and was even believed to be engaged in a heated argument with Ness Wadia, the co-owner of PBKS, over the number of retentions.

Nonetheless, Wadia clearly denied being engaged in a debate with KKR owner Shahrukh. He said, "I have known Shah Rukh for more than 25 years. There is no animosity here. Everyone gave their views, and they had their opinions. At the end of the day, you have to look at all the stakeholders and do what's best for all. That's most important."

IPL 2024 runners-up SRH's owner Kavya Maran, meanwhile, opined that her franchise's preference is for a mini-auction every year rather than having a mega auction altogether. In a statement, Maran said, "It takes a lot of time to build a squad and as discussed it also takes quite a bit of time and investment for the younger players to mature. It has taken Abhishek Sharma three years to become consistent with his performances. You would agree that there are many such examples in other teams too."

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On the other hand, DC's co-owner Parth Jindal mentioned, "I was surprised that there was a debate on whether to hold the big auction," he said. "Some people said that there should not be a mega auction at all. There should be only smaller auctions. I'm not in that camp. I feel that it evens the playing field and it's very good for everyone. It makes the IPL what it is. It makes it competitive. It makes it an even playing field. What we are learning is that team owners don't want the auction. It's just a few owners."

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The other owners who turned up at the meeting were DC's Kiran Kumar Grandhi, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)'s Sanjiv Goenka, Chennai Super Kings (CSK)'s Rupa Gurunath, Rajasthan Royals' (RR) Manoj Badale Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)'s Prathmesh Mishra whereas a few of them attended the meeting via video conference, including the Ambanis of Mumbai Indians (MI) -- who are currently in Paris for the Olympic Games.

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The BCCI later released a statement saying, "The franchise owners tabled feedback on player regulations and other commercial aspects, including central merchandising, licensing, and gaming." It further added, "The BCCI will now take these recommendations to the IPL Governing Council for further deliberation and evaluation before formulating the IPL player regulations."