A student’s guide to IPL mega auction: How does it work?
The IPL 2022 Mega auction, scheduled for 12th and 13th February, has officially begun in Bengaluru from 11AM today. Here’s everything young cricket lovers should know about this cricketing event.
What is an IPL mega auction?
IPL mega auction is a grand auction held by the BCCI once every four or five years to select players and other support staff for all the IPL teams. A mega auction is one where franchises are only allowed to retain three to five players, as against mini auctions that happen every year and teams can retain any number of players.
What is new in this IPL mega auction 2022?
In IPL mega auction 2022, BCCI is officially introducing two brand new franchises, Lucknow and Ahmedabad, that will take part in IPL 2022 editions along with the 8 old franchises. Therefore, a total of 10 franchises will participate in IPL 2022. They are Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Lucknow and Ahmedabad. The names of the new franchises are Lucknow Super Giants and the Gujarat Titans. For the mega auction, each team has been granted a salary cap of Rs. 90 crores.
The two new franchises: Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans
The Lucknow franchise is owned by RPSG group of Rajiv Goenka. They paid a bidding amount of INR 7090 crores, the highest ever bid received by BCCI for an IPL team. Previously, the RPSG group had owned the team Rising Pune Supergiants that had participated in the 2016 and 2017 IPL editions. They backed out before the 2018 mega auction due to a conflict between the owners. KL Rahul is the captain of Lucknow Super Giants.
The Ahmedabad franchise is owned by a British equity firm called CVC Capitals. So far, the firm has been investing in sports like Formula 1 racing, rugby and football. This is their first investment in a cricket league. According to media reports, they paid a bidding amount of INR 5625 crores. Hardik Pandya has been chosen as their captain.
IPL Mega Auction: The Procedure
In an IPL mega auction, players are sold to the highest bidder, according to the rules set by the BCCI. There is a dedicated auctioneer to control the proceedings. Each team can have a minimum of 18 players and a maximum of 25 players in the squad. One squad is allowed to have a maximum of eight overseas players.
The players are divided on the basis of their capacity (batter, wicket-keeper batter, all-rounder and bowler) and then categorised as capped (players who have represented their national teams) and uncapped (those who have experience only in domestic cricket). There are 62 sets in total in the IPL 2022 mega auction, including the marquee set which includes 10 players. They have spectacular international and IPL records. These players open the auction, followed by the capped and uncapped players.
The lowest base price of any player during the IPL mega auction 2022 is Rs. 20 lakhs while the highest base price is set at Rs. 2 crores. In total, 48 players (17 Indian and 31 overseas) have a base price of Rs. 2 crores in the IPL mega auction. The base price reduces in these slabs: Rs. 1.5 crore, Rs. 1 crore, Rs. 75 lakhs, Rs. 50 lakhs, Rs. 40 lakhs, Rs. 30 lakhs and Rs. 20 lakhs.
Each franchise in the IPL gets a stipulated amount to form the team. This time, an IPL team can spend a minimum of INR 67.5 crore from their total allotted amount of Rs. 90 crores.