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The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 mini auction held in Dubai on December 19, 2023, created history as Australian cricketers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins secured record-breaking deals. Starc emerged as the most expensive buy in the auction’s history, fetching a staggering sum of INR 24.75 crore, while Cummins wasn’t far behind with a massive deal of INR 20.5 crore.
Dinesh Karthik’s insights: Strategies of foreign players
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)‘s wicketkeeper-batter, Dinesh Karthik, provided valuable insights into the strategies employed by foreign players and their agents to maximize earnings in the mini auction. Speaking to Cricbuzz, he shed light on a recurring trend where players strategically enter the mini auction, capitalizing on the financial vulnerabilities of teams.
“The mini auction is definitely used by players and agents very cleverly where they bring them on into the mini auction, and they go for absurd unheard of prices knowing that the teams come in with a lot of money and they have some holes to fill and enhance their price skyrockets to a different level,” Karthik said.
Concerns raised by Karthik: Addressing unhealthy trends
While acknowledging the players’ priorities for their country and cricket, Karthik expressed concerns about the tactics involved in the mini auction, deeming it an “unhealthy trend” that requires attention. He emphasized the need to address the imbalance created by these strategies.
“It is not a fault of theirs. They are just prioritising their countries, their cricket, looking after their bodies, and realising, ‘Okay, now I will come in’. But also it is a bit of a tactic. I think players and agents are using this as a tactic. Instead of coming to the main [mega] auction, which happens every three years, they let that pass and come in the mini auction that happens the year after … Because of the holes available, they go for some crazy price. I think this unhealthy trend should stop,” the 38-year-old added.
Also READ: IPL 2024: Who is Shubham Dubey? the Vidarbha batter fetched for massive INR 5.8 crore by Rajasthan Royals in the auction
Proposed solutions for equilibrium
To bring equilibrium to the dynamics of the mini auction, Karthik proposed two pragmatic solutions. Firstly, he suggested that players released and entering the mini auction should not be allowed to fetch bids larger than their previous ones in the main auction.
“I have two solutions. Anybody coming in the mini auction after they’ve been released from major auction can only go to the ceiling of the price that they have been bought in the major auction so that there is no I think bad blood among the players who have done well and have been retained in that team. Most of the players have been released into the mini auction have come through because probably they haven’t had a great year,” the Chennai-born cricketer stated.
Secondly, he recommended implementing a limit on the money players in the mini auction can receive, calculated based on the highest paid player’s earnings in that team.
“The second one in case a player hasn’t been part of the major auction and comes through to the mini auction, I think he can only go up to the point of the highest paid player in that team. Whatever money he is bid for beyond that should be given back to the BCCI, a feeling that will probably ensure sanity to some point. It is still a tad bit unfair, but I think that is the best way to go because I see a lot of foreign players actually using that as a loophole,” Karthik concluded.
