'Uncapped Player Rule Not An Exception For Dhoni'

'When it comes to strategy or planning for a match, there is nobody better than Dhoni.'
'Whether he is uncapped or capped, every franchise would want to pick Dhoni, no matter what price he is available for.'

Australians Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins grabbed the headlines with mega deals at the IPL mini auction in December last year.

While Starc emerged as the IPL's highest player with a whopping Rs 24.75 crore (Rs 247.5 million) deal when he was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders, Cummins was snapped up by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 20.5 crore (Rs 205 million).

There were major complaints that overseas players deliberately made themselves available for the IPL mini auction to attract huge bids and that it was unfair on the top Indian players, who got much less, despite their full commitment to the league.

BCCI has made a major rule change in the IPL players' auction from this year onwards as players who don't register themselves for the mega auction won't be allowed to enter the mini auction as well, while the price of the overseas players at the mini auction has also been capped, which ensures they don't earn more than the Indian players.

The overseas players also face a two-year ban in case of sudden pull out ahead of the new season. On the other hand, the Indian domestic players will be the biggest beneficiary with the introduction of the match fee, which could fetch them in excess of Rs 1 crore if they play all games for their franchise.

However, the most talked about rule change for this season is about the uncapped players as it makes the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni available for little as Rs 4 crore (Rs 40 million) if he is retained by Chennai Super Kings.

"If you see the last IPL season, the Impact Player ruling made the game very interesting. It has put a completely different dimension to the whole strategy that the teams plan for a game. And given the positive feedback and the fan engagement, and good reviews from the broadcasters, the fans, keeping all that in mind we decided to continue with the Impact Player rule," IPL Chairman Arun Dhumal tells Rediff.com's Harish Kotian in the concluding segment of an exclusive interview.

• Part 1: 'We Want Players To Get Maximum Benefit'

We have seen that the mini auction has become the mega auction. This time the rule changes pertaining to the mini auction give a feeling that the BCCI wants to set things in order and that the mega auction will be the biggest. Was that the purpose?

Yes that is what we have seen and one learns by observing things over the years. This was one observation where we witnessed that some players at times purposely or otherwise they were not making themselves available for the mega auction, but they would be available for the mini auction.

And in the mini auction, since the franchises have lesser options to pick from, so the value goes up. In that case, the players who were part of the mega auction, they may feel that they lost out on that opportunity.

But since they have shown their 100 percent commitment for the IPL, they should not feel that they have lost out, so that was the whole idea.

And in the future mini auction, even if the bid for a player goes higher than the mega auction then that extra amount will be kept by the BCCI for players welfare.

For the first time ever a match fee has been introduced in the IPL. That will be a big boost for the Indian domestic players who are bought for less amounts at the auction because if they do well in the IPL and play all the games they will earn more than Rs 1 crore in the season.

Sometimes, it happens that the domestic player will get picked for a lesser amount like Rs 20 lakh or Rs 30 lakh or Rs 40 lakh. But there are some players who if they get an opportunity, they make most of it and showcases his talent which ensures he gets to play the entire tournament.In such a scenario, if a player has done well and made most of the opportunities, then he should get a respectable amount and that is what has been ensured through this rule change.

You have also closed that loophole wherein foreign players were pulling out of the IPL if they didn't get high bids.
The new ruling says that if overseas players pull out of the IPL without any legitimate reason they will face a two-year ban.
Were all franchises in agreement that such a strict rule needed to be put in place?

Obviously, when a franchisee is picking his IPL team, and cricket being a team game you pick a player, keeping in mind his position, whether he will be opening, whether he bat in the middle order, whether he will be bowling pace or whether he is a spinner.

And if suddenly one player pulls out, that upsets your whole game plan.

So the idea was to make sure that that should not happen, because when you go into the IPL mega auction, all the franchises would be planning for a three year period.

Hence it is important that players give their 100 percent commitment to the IPL so that the franchises' game plan does not go haywire.

That was how we decided on this ruling if taking into account the feedback from the team and our observations. The game plan of the franchisee is preparing the team for the IPL and now that gets ensured.

The Impact Player rule has been retained despite there being some debate about it last year. What made the BCCI retain the rule because certainly not everyone was happy with it?

If you see the last IPL season, the Impact Player ruling made the game very interesting. It has put a completely different dimension to the whole strategy that the teams plan for a game. And given the positive feedback and the fan engagement, and good reviews from the broadcasters, the fans, keeping all that in mind we decided to continue with the Impact Player rule.

One criticism of this rule last season was that it doesn't give space to all-rounders. But if you look at the last IPL season, all the best all rounders were still part of their respective teams.

What that means is the all-rounder need to raise his bar as an all-rounder, has to be better in every department -- he has to be a better bowler or a better batter.

Which team would keep out someone like Sunil Narine or Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) out of the team? This argument, I would say, is a flawed argument, because it challenges the all-rounders to become better.

Many believe that the new uncapped rule will see Mahendra Singh Dhoni playing one more IPL season. Do you think he will play in the IPL next year?

When it comes to strategy or planning for a match, there is nobody better than Dhoni. Whether he is uncapped or capped, every franchise would want to pick Dhoni, no matter what price he is available for.

I don't think so that this uncapped player is an exception for M S Dhoni.

It is for all our players because so many young talents who are making it to the Indian team, but there are many senior players who are announcing their retirement from international cricket but they are fit to play.

You have someone like Piyush Chawla still playing in the IPL or you have Amit Mishra. They have been out of the Indian team for so many years, but they have done so well in the IPL.

The uncapped player ruling is for all those players who have shown passion for the game and kept themselves fit and firing to play in the IPL.

The IPL also benefitted a lot of Indian coaches, we have seen a lot more former players taking over the coaching role in the IPL.
Gautam Gambhir won the IPL 2024 with KKR this year before he took over as India coach while the other support staff members including Abhishek Nayar, Morne Morkel and others have had experience coaching in IPL. This has also been a big positive for Indian cricket because of the IPL.

Yes, because you have 10 global teams playing against each other the IPL. We would have seen India playing against the other teams or Australia playing against the other teams, but here in the IPL the best players from across the world are regrouped into the 10 teams and they are playing against each other.

Given the scale of the tournament, the competitiveness of the tournament, the franchises also want the best talent available as their support staff and coaches.

This is a big exposure for all the coaches and support staff, who link up with the IPL teams and they are getting good experience and benefits from it.

We are so happy and glad about it, not only for the Indian coaches, but any coach who is doing well with a particular IPL team he may find a coaching job with some top team like England, Australia or New Zealand or the other teams.