"You haven't won even though it was happening every 3 or 5 years" - Aakash Chopra on some franchises asking for a mega auction ahead of IPL 2025

Aakash Chopra has noted that some franchises want a mega auction ahead of IPL 2025 as they aren't happy with their current squad and want to make wholesale changes. However, he pointed out that a similar exercise hasn't yielded the desired results for those franchises previously.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) met with the IPL franchises recently to seek their views on the auction. While certain franchises reportedly wanted a mega auction, others were against it.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra observed that most franchises wanting a mega auction haven't won the IPL despite multiple such exercises.

"Some franchises say - 'How will we win if you don't allow the reset or reboot button to be pressed? Our team is not good currently and we want to dismantle it totally. We might keep a few people and leave everyone else, and we want to start afresh. Otherwise, it's unfair because you have to do a mega auction every third or fifth year'," he said (5:00).

"It was heard that it was the Punjab team. It might be the Delhi team or the Bengaluru team because they have never won to date and if you do like this, they would never be able to win. The counterquestion to that is - You haven't won even though it was happening every three or five years," the former India opener added.

Chopra pointed out that franchises won't be interested in investing in players if mega auctions are held every few years.

"You should have won but since you have not won, you are slightly upset. Since you are upset, you want it to happen once again. If you keep playing auction-auction repeatedly, IPL (franchises) won't be interested at all in investing in any player," he noted.

Among the franchises part of the IPL from the outset, the Punjab Kings (PBKS), Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are yet to win a title. While PBKS and DC finished ninth and sixth respectively in IPL 2024, RCB were knocked out in the Eliminator by the Rajasthan Royals (RR).

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"There should be a time when you say that mega auctions should be done away with" - Aakash Chopra

The Kolkata Knight Riders are reportedly among the franchises against a mega auction. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra opined that mega auctions should be stopped at some stage to incentivize franchises to develop their players.

"Some franchises say - 'Let's invest, we should be made a part of it, we want to find, scout and invest, and it's our responsibility to prepare players'. Then whether they find Ashutosh (Sharma) from somewhere or give opportunities to Shashank (Singh), there will be many such players who they want to find and invest in, and they need encouragement for that," he said in the same video (5:55).

"There should be a time when you say that mega auctions should be done away with. Allow them to start building a team together. You might allow a squad of 25 only but allow them to keep players with them for a long time," Chopra added.

The BCCI are reportedly in favor of holding a mega auction ahead of IPL 2025. It remains to be seen how many players are allowed to be retained or bought back through the RTM (Right to Match) option.