SRH owner Kavya Maran | Source: X.com
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) held a meeting with all 10 IPL team owners on Wednesday, July 31, to gather their insights on the upcoming IPL 2025 mega option and to decide on the number of retentions.
The owner of the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kavya Maran, suggested BCCI to hold a mini auction instead of a mega auction, as all the teams have put significant effort into building their core squads. She argued that teams have strong players they can’t afford to lose because of the mega auction.
Kavya provided the example of Abhishek Sharma, the explosive opening batter for Sunrisers Hyderabad, who had an outstanding and breakthrough season in IPL 2024. It took almost three years for Abhishek Sharma to live up to his potential.
Here is what Kavya Maran said:
“It takes a lot of time to build a squad, and as discussed, it also takes quite a bit of time and investment for younger players to mature. It has taken Abhishek three years to become consistent with his performance. You would agree that there are many such examples with other teams.”
Players Who Don’t Turn Up After Getting Picked in Option Should Be Banned: Kavya Maran
Kavya Maran further added that players who get selected in the IPL auction and do not turn up to play, apart from injury issues, should be banned as the teams invest huge efforts and money on these players during the auction.
“After being selected, if a player doesn’t come and play the season for any reason apart from injury, he should be banned. Franchises put a lot of effort into the option, and if a player goes for a low amount and doesn’t turn up, it affects the team’s combination.”
She also requested the BCCI to increase the number of overseas players that can be retained, considering that in the last mega option before IPL 2022, only a maximum of two overseas players were allowed to be retained.
