The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is unlikely to agree certain franchises' request to reschedule the date of the IPL Mini Auction.
According to a report by InsideSport, multiple teams have asked for the December 23 auction date to be moved owing to Christmas. However, a top BCCI official informed InsideSport that board is ‘unlikely’ to accept the request due to ‘logistical issues’. The Auction for now will go ahead as scheduled in Kochi on December 23.
According to a BCCI official, certain franchise executives will be on holiday throughout the Christmas season. They are unlikely to change the date, however.
"Auction planning entails a significant amount of logistics. Changing the date would need redoing everything," reports say.
The fact that seven out of ten teams have foreign head coaches is the key reason clubs want the auction postponed. The franchises will need their head coaches to strategize for the upcoming tournament, and their absence from the auction might be harmful. Furthermore, the teams have foreign influence in a variety of other areas, such as batting instructors and data analysts who have been brought in to exploit the potential.
The mini-auction will take place on a single day. Most franchises have already assembled their basic lineups and would like to fine-tune ahead of the next season of the IPL, which will use the traditional home-and-away format. It should be remembered that the teams kept a total of 163 players while releasing up to 85 players from their respective squads.
READ| IPL 2023: Full list of players retained, released and traded, auction date, purse value of all franchises
