The IPL mega auction is likely to take place in a Saudi city, according to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The BCCI executives have not decided on a precise location yet, but Riyadh or Jeddah are certainly on their list. Although it’s not the top option right now, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is another alternative. It is anticipated that the auction will happen around the final week of November.
It is acknowledged that the BCCI has had difficulty thus far in locating a hotel or an appropriate location. Finding a venue in Saudi Arabia has proven difficult even though price shouldn’t be a major consideration for the owners of the Indian Premier League (IPL), one of the richest leagues in the world, and the BCCI, possibly the richest sports organization.
As was previously said, London was first on the shortlist, but because of the cold during this time of year, the BCCI chose not to host the auction in the UK. Officials from the BCCI and IPL are already searching for a location that can hold the two-day auction and house the full IPL organization, which includes ten franchise delegations and a sizable entourage that includes two broadcasters, Jio and Disney Star.
The mega auction this time around is probably going to be the biggest and the most competitive auction of all time, given the interesting retention rules put out by the BCCI. BCCI released the rules of retention just a few days ago and several interesting changes have been made, mainly regarding the retention prices of the 4th and the 5th retention and changes in the use of RTM.
The IPL Governing Council and the BCCI also re-introduced the uncapped player rule, which states that an Indian player who last played for India in an International game five years ago will be treated as an uncapped player and can be retained for 4 Cr. INR. Jay Shah also announced match fees for all the playing members of the IPL side, who will not be paid 7.5 Lakh rupees per match (if they are playing in the first eleven).
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