If an international player withdraws from the IPL after being purchased at auction without a valid reason, the IPL franchises have suggested a two-year suspension. They have further instructed the Indian Premier League to mandate that foreign players register for the main auction rather than only participating in smaller auctions with the expectation of fetching high prices. During their meeting with the IPL on Wednesday, almost all 10 franchises reached a consensus on those two topics, as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
When foreign players withdraw on the eve of a new season, citing personal reasons, it has caused harm to numerous IPL teams. They made the point that this kind of late withdrawals hurt the team’s performance because plans are made with these foreign players in mind, and when they suddenly become unavailable, the teams are left to scramble to find replacements from a far smaller pool of foreign talent.
The franchises informed the IPL that they may accept it if the player’s board decided to withdraw him in order to fulfil an international duty, if he sustained an injury, or if he had personal obligations that prevented him from joining the team. As long as the player’s availability for the IPL season was known at the time of the auction, they were happy to make these accommodations.
The issue that the teams are dealing with is that players who are acquired at base price frequently withdraw after the auction. They went so far as to give an example of a management of a player informing a team that his client might be available if he was paid more.
The teams further informed the IPL that, on many occasions during the previous two cycles (2018–24), well-known international players have opted out of the mega auctions in favour of participating in the mini-auctions, which have drawn high bids. This frequently occurs as a result of the dearth of excellent talent available in mini-auctions. The highest bid for a player in the most recent mega auction in 2022 was INR 15.25 crore (about USD 2.03 million), with Ishan Kishan going to the Mumbai Indians. Two bids above that amount were made for Mitchell Starc (INR 24.75 crore, or about USD 2.98 million) and Pat Cummins (INR 20.50 crore, or approximately USD 2.47 million) at the most recent mini auction.
The IPL had to implement specific checks because the franchises believed that some of these players and their management were trying to manipulate the system. Larger stars have to register for mega auctions, but the teams stated they understood if a fresh or up-and-coming foreign player signed up for mini-auctions. They might be up for sale in the mini-auction the next season if they don’t sell.