Money and human trophy at IPL-4

Player retention gives fillip to bigger money hopes, as franchisees do their bets

Five teams in the fourth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament are ready to retain their players of choice, by paying a premium from 50 to 300 per cent to their price in the first season.

According to the rules of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), a team would have to part with $1.8 million (Rs 8.1 crore) for the first player it retains. However, the actual price paid to the retained player could be much higher than that, say stakeholders in the T20 tournament.

 

Sources said Sachin Tendulkar and M S Dhoni, retained by Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, could actually be paid over $2 million for their retainership. In the first season, when Tendulkar was the ‘Icon player’ for Mumbai Indians, his fees were 15 per cent higher than the most expensive player in the team and he was paid around $1.2 million. Dhoni, bought by Chennai Super Kings at an auction, got $1.5 million. This goes to show that despite the controversies the T20 tournament has gone through in the past year, it still rules the roost when it comes to moolah.

This year, five teams have retained one or more players for IPL-4. Therefore, Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians), Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings), Shane Warne (Rajasthan Royals), Virender Sehwag (Delhi Daredevils) and Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore) have straightaway moved to the price bracket of $1.8 million. They all were the first to be retained by their respective teams. In the first season, Warne was bought by Rajasthan Royals for $450,000, while Sehwag, being an Icon player, was paid around $900,000.

BCCI had allowed each franchise to retain four players from their previous season’s squad, but they would lose $1.8 million from the permissible spending amount of $9 million against the first player retained; thereafter $1.3 million, $900,000 and $500,000, respectively, against the next three players. Both Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings retained four players each, both denting their purses by $4.5 million. Rajasthan Royals retained two players, bringing down their purse by $3.1 million. Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore both spent $1.8 million, by retaining a player each.

Pros & cons

Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings have smartly done their maths by retaining their Iconic players. According to the team manager of a franchise contacted by Business Standard , "Only Tendulkar and Pollard would have together been sold for over $3.5 million, had they come to the auction pool. Similarly Dhoni and Suresh Raina would have got the same amount. Both the teams have smartly avoided any blood bath during auctions,” he said, asking not to be named. Chennai Super Kings had bought Dhoni in the first season of IPL in 2008 for $1.5 million.

While some of the players have been retained by their respective franchises, most, including the likes of Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble, were not. In September, when it was expected that all players would come to the auction pool, Tendulkar had said, “I feel if a player is happy to play for a particular team, it's good he stays with that team.”

However, some senior players were against Tendulkar's views. Rahul Dravid, who played for Royal Challengers Bangalore, had said with two new franchises — Pune and Kochi — being added to IPL, increasing the number of teams to 10, the majority of players had to go into the auction. “One has to understand that two more teams are entering the IPL and the beauty of the IPL is that it's very competitive, anyone can win. We don't want to end up in a situation like the English Premier League where only three or four teams can win the tournament. It's an even playing field. I like the concept of everyone having a chance to do well, as it raises the level of the tournament. It also raises the interest levels also,” he had said. Dravid was not retained by the Bangalore franchise for IPL-4.

The team manager of another franchise that did not retain any player said the team wanted to utilise the full purse during auctions. "Iconic players only have brand value. A team cannot hope to win matches only by having these players. We will form a team from scratch and hope to do better than the teams that have retained players," he said, requesting anonymity.

It was to be seen, he said, what franchises that have already used half their purse in buying players would do when auctions take place on January 8-9.