Sanjiv Goenka remains coy on MS Dhoni being Pune's first pick

MS Dhoni has been synonymous with Chennai Super Kings throughout the IPL

Sanjiv Goenka, owner of the Pune franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL) declined to comment on whether MS Dhoni will be the first pick from the IPL draft which is supposed to be held on December 15, reports IBN live.

The Kolkata-based industrialist Sanjiv Goenka successfully bid for the Pune franchise on Tuesday will have the opportunity to pick the first player but he refused to talk about who his first pick would be.

“MS Dhoni is one of the finest and greatest leaders. As of now, we haven’t formulated any plan. It was about winning the bid. As far as picking Pune as our venue, it made the most commercial sense,” Goenka told reporters.

Pune and Rajkot were chosen as the two new franchises of the IPL, in place of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, who are both serving a two-year suspension for their team officials’ involvement in the IPL betting scandal.

The bid for Pune was won by Goenka’s New Rising, while the Rajkot franchise was won by Intex through the reverse-bidding process, whereby the lowest amount wins the bidder a franchise.

New Rising’s bid was Rs minus 16 crore, whereas Intex quoted minus 10 crore in the process, where investors were encouraged to bid for a price lower than the base price of Rs. 40 crore that was set by the IPL.

The lowest bidder has the opportunity to pick the first player from the draft and as a result, the Pune franchise will have that opportunity in the draft that will take place next Tuesday.

In the draft that will take place next, five capped and uncapped players from CSK and RR will be available for both franchises, with Pune picking the first player, then Intex and the duo alternating thereafter.

The biggest draw in the auction pool will be India’s ODI and T20 captain MS Dhoni, who has been captain of CSK for all the IPL seasons till date. But Goenka’s response that the franchise are looking to form a balanced team for the next years hints at the possibility that Dhoni might not be first pick after all.

The same money brackets that were used for player retention for the IPL franchises two years ago will be applied for the ten Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals players. The first player gets Rs 12.5 crore, the second receives Rs 9.5 crore, the third bags Rs 7.5 crore, while the fourth gets Rs 5.5 crore and the fifth player pockets Rs 4 crore. All uncapped players earn Rs 4 crore if they are picked by either franchise.

A fixed amount will be deducted from the franchise’’s salary cap per player retained, irrespective of the IPL fee agreed between the franchise and the retained player.