Former India cricketer Sanjay Bangar said that choosing Dubai as the venue for the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction represents a significant milestone, extending the event’s reach beyond India’s borders, and potentially offering a substantial boost to the development of cricket within the region.
Speaking to Khaleej Times on the sidelines of the IPL auction at the Coca-Cola Arena on Tuesday, Bangar, the new head of cricket development at Punjab Kings explained that this move, to a city renowned for its global appeal, doesn’t just mean a mere change in location, instead the decision serves as a guiding light for countries around the world.
“It (this move) gives a clear line of thinking for the other countries to also open up their mind to find out and be updated with how IPL is run, how the auction dynamic works, and how teams are picked. So, from that perspective, I feel that it’s a great initiative and such initiatives can actually help the progress of local cricket in times to come,” said Bangar.
The former India batting coach said that this nascent step also offers a glimpse into the intricate workings of the IPL auction.
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“It’s been terrific. There are local media and journalists (present here). Since this thing happens every year in India, so, people in India are used to it but it’s great that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) through this initiative of theirs has got the entire gamut of IPL here and how it operates out of India,” the former Royal Challengers Bangalore coach said.
Increased pay-offs
Meanwhile, when asked about Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who set a new record by joining Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for an impressive Dh10.9 million (Rs 24.75 crore), the highest price ever paid for an IPL player, the 51-year-old, who featured in 12 Tests and 15 ODIs for India, said: “I don’t think that a particular type of player is more valuable. It’s basically what you can bring to the table and if you can fit into the jigsaw of a particular team, then the teams will go all out to acquire that person. So, that probably would have been the case for Starc.”
During an intense bidding war that escalated quickly, former England cricketer Vikram Solanki highlighted the rising salary caps in the IPL alongside the increasing pay-offs.
“I think it’s about the requisite skill sets within a group and then you piece together the best possible team and support that gives you options across conditions and opposition. I don’t think there is a mindset that batters or bowlers should be of a particular price bracket. It’s just a matter of the skill set that a team needs (and how much a team wants to pay for it) and then it becomes an issue of what’s the supply and demand for that skill set. It’s as simple as that,” said Solanki.