Reports : Other IPL franchises unhappy with benefits given to CSK and RR

IPL 2018 is expected to get bigger and better as they welcome old heroes Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals to the fray once again after the two franchises served their respective punishments following the scandal in 2013. Apart from that, IPL’s mega-auction is also bound to add more colour to the competition that will see numerous big names trading sides.

However, though the auction rules of giving a combination of outright retention and right to match options to the franchises make it more interesting, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and IPL's governing council decision to hand the same option to Chennai and Rajasthan hasn’t gone down well with the other teams - Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians and the Delhi DareDevils.

The 2013 scandal had inflicted huge suffering on the brand value of other teams, who were left with unenthusiastic sponsors. And as per a source at the Telegraph, while all of the six sides were ‘verbally assured’ that both of the team would only come back after serving their suspensions, "at no point" during a meeting called by the Board/IPL governing council were they communicated anything about extending the same retaining options to them.

"It's common sense that a franchise can retain simply those players on its rolls. But neither the Super Kings nor the Royals have a single player with them at this point in time... So, retain who all? It's absurd... Why should the two franchises retain on the basis of their 2015 squads? If that had to be done, then every single player ought to have gone into the upcoming full-fledged auction...,” said the source.

The biggest benefit of it has clearly gone to two-time IPL champion Chennai Super Kings, who, quite expectantly would have options like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravinder Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Dwayne Bravo for their retention list. The source even alleged top authorities to have vested interest in letting CSK enjoy such benefits.

“Clearly, some people have a vested interest, which is why a blatantly unfair policy has been forced into place... I'd say it's even ridiculous at one level... The open market policy should have been adopted instead of two franchises, which have been punished, getting the same benefit as the six which didn't do anything wrong...,” the source said.

"Moreover, neither the Super Kings nor the Royals paid the franchise fee (which varies from one to the other) for two years. Then, how are they getting any benefit at all from the Board/IPL governing council? Makes no sense at all," the agitated source further added.

The council’s decision to defer the mega-auction by a year is also seen by many as an opportunity to allow CSK and RR to have a fair chance at rebuilding the side.