Sahara for raising cap on bidding for IPL players

Having won team Pune through a very aggressive bid, Sahara group has suggested to the Indian Premier League (IPL) to raise the cap on bids that each franchise can place for players so that they get more benefits.

"There is a cap," Sahara group chief Subroto Roy told PTI when asked if he would be as aggressive in bidding for players as he was in bidding for the team last week.

When IPL made its debut three years ago, its Commissioner Lalit Modi had announced that there would be a cap of $5 million on each franchise to buy players and each team was mandated to spend at least $3 million.

"I think they should consider this... Yes I will appreciate that (raising the cap)... I think the benefit should go to players also," he said on whether the IPL should consider raising the cap.

After three years, the players would be up for grabs once again when IPL conducts fresh auctioning in September and going by the success of the event, including the tournament this year, the teams are expected to be aggressive in bidding.

Sahara group, which bid successfully for the Pune team with an offer of Rs 1,702 crore, has already expressed the desire to take Sachin Tendulkar as its captain should the master blaster from Mumbai Indians be available.

Roy also said that he would also leverage from his association with Indian cricket team (Sahara group is the team sponsor), adding that many of the players had suggested to the group to take a team on its own.