Salary cap may be introduced for uncapped players in IPL auction

THE Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is contemplating putting a cap on the uncapped players in terms of the exorbitant pay-cheques that they’ve been attracting over the last couple of years in the IPL auction. It is learnt that many members of the Governing Council (GC) have noticed that the high salaries have diminished the interest of playing domestic cricket for some uncapped players. And the BCCI feels a salary cap would be prudent at this stage.

The GC had decided to include uncapped Indian players in the auction in 2014, and in the two years hence, Karn Sharma and KC Cariappa are among names who have been bought by their respective franchises for over 2.5 crore.

The suggestion was made during the IPL GC with IMG, the company that manages the IPL jamboree, also making a presentation regarding the same. But there were a few members who felt that the committee should rethink the restriction idea before agreeing upon it.

IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla confirmed to The Indian Express that such a recommendation was indeed made during the meeting.”There were many suggestions which were discussed during this meeting. A restriction on the salaries offered to uncapped players was one of them. There is also another suggestion that from 2017, the player retention system will be rejigged. Teams will mostly be allowed to retain 2 capped Indian players, 2 foreign players and 3 uncapped players but the total cannot cross five players. It means teams will end up releasing 16 players into the auction,” Shukla said.

It was the case of Cariappa, a relatively unknown spinner from Karnataka who raked in a Rs 2.5 crore price from the Kolkata Knight Riders and then played only a single game, that was brought up to explain the board’s apprehensions. Cariappa is yet to play a domestic game in any format.

“There is a suggestion to have a cap of Rs 1 crore for a uncapped player from the next auction onwards. We should also have it for international uncapped players. Just imagine a case where a player is earning Rs 2.5 crore. What will be his motivation to play in a four-day domestic game, where he will earn only a few lakhs. ,” said a BCCI official.