File photo of Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan© AFP
Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan engaged in a heated argument with Punjab Kings co-owner Ness Wadia during the IPL owners' meeting at the BCCI Headquarters in Mumbai on Wednesday, according to a report by Cricbuzz. The report claimed that the two owners did not agree on the number of retentions each side should be granted ahead of the mega auction. While SRK was not convinced that there should be a mega auction before IPL 2025 at all, Wadia was completely in favour of a complete overhaul. The report further claimed that Wadia felt that there should be very less retentions for each side - a point that was not to Shah Rukh Khan's liking.
The other owners who attended the meetings were - Kiran Kumar Grandhi of Delhi Capitals, Sanjiv Goenka of Lucknow Super Giants, Rupa Gurunath of Chennai Super Kings, Kavya Maran of SunRisers Hyderabad and Manoj Badale of Rajasthan Royals. Few of the Indian Premier League (IPL) team winners including the Ambanis of Mumbai Indians attended the BCCI meeting through video conference.
Meanwhile, during the previous IPL season this year, there were eight 250-plus totals, including the total of 287 runs posted by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the highest-ever in league's history.
Various critics, players and experts expressed their dissatisfaction with the Impact Player rule, blaming it for such unprecedented six-hitting and for stunting the growth of all-rounders as team's often chose to use a pure batter/bowler through this role instead of an all-rounder.
This rule was introduced back in 2023 season and allows players to pick an extra specialist batter/bowler depending on the situation. Nine of the ten highest total in league's history have come after this rule's introduction, highlighting the freedom, power and flexibility it adds to teams.
Though the rule was meant to expose more Indian, especially uncapped players, it was criticised by players and experts alike this season, with Indian skipper Rohit Sharma even expressing that he was not a big fan of the rule since it did not allow the development of all-rounders, a vital aspect in T20Is for India.
(With ANI inputs)