BCCI looking to introduce financial plan to reward uncapped IPL players for international appearances - Reports

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will soon roll out a plan that will reward uncapped Indian IPL players for each international appearance they make. Several players find themselves on the bench in an IPL season for a nominal fee but manage to make appearances for Team India, particularly through the second-string team.

Players bought at the IPL auction are tied down to the same price for three years unless they are released and picked up by a different franchise for a different sum at the subsequent auction. However, there is now an underlying rule that dictates the increase of a player fee by two times if the uncapped player plays 10 international matches between two IPL seasons.

The BCCI has circulated the norms for the incentive plan for the uncapped Indian players with two primary conditions - the auction price and the number of international appearances between two seasons.

The statement reads:

(a) Prior to the start of any Season the League Fee payable to any player who is uncapped is less than Rs. 50 Lakhs; and

(b) Such player is then capped or achieves 5 or 10 Caps at any time during the period from the end of one Season up to the start of the next Season

Then

(c) the League Fee payable to such Player for such next season and any subsequent season if such player's contract is extended by the relevant franchise shall be Rs. 50 Lakhs for so long as such player has 1 Cap, Rs. 75 Lakhs for so long as such player has 5-9 Caps and Rs. 1 crore if the player has 10 Caps or more; and

(d) if such player is subsequently traded then prior to such trade his League Fee shall be deemed to be determined under paragraph (c) above. It is clarified that for the purposes of calculating the Salary Cap, if the player is traded, then any increase in a player's League Fee will apply to the new franchise's Salary Cap. However, if the player remains with the existing team, then such increase will not affect the Franchisee's Salary Cap and the Salary Cap will remain the same as it was before the increase in Player's League Fee."

The BCCI has also issued a clarification to distinguish between capped and uncapped players. For a player to be recognized as capped, he has to (a) play in the starting XI in International Cricket (Test match, ODI, Twenty20 International) for an ICC Full member or (b) has a Central Contract with his national cricket board, being an ICC Full member.

Furthermore, even if players with associate nations have represented their country in the past, they will still be deemed uncapped in the eyes of the league.

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BCCI to conduct IPL mini-auction on December 19

The franchises will have an opportunity to round up their squads at the upcoming IPL 2024 mini-auction on Tuesday, December 19. The event will be held overseas for the first time, with Dubai being named as the host this time around.

According to a report by Cricbuzz, independent professional auctioneer Mallika Sagar, who has conducted the previous two WPL auctions, will oversee the IPL 2024 mini-auction as well.

"An independent professional auctioneer, Ms. Mallika Sagar, will conduct the auction and she will be the sole arbiter as to all aspects of the auction," the BCCI informed franchises.

Who will be the most expensive acquisition at the 2024 IPL mini-auction? Let us know what you think.