New Delhi, December 20 (India Today): The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 is likely to become the first season where all the eight teams will have an option of loaning capped players – Indian or overseas – between them after the halfway point of the season.
The 13th season of the cash-rich T20 league is most likely to get underway in late March. IPL Governing Council had introduced a mid-season football-style transfer window last season.
A provision was made for a short transfer window midway through the campaign for uncapped players and those who have played no more than two matches till the halfway stage of the tournament.
Uncapped players from a team were also eligible for a transfer, provided both teams, along with the player, agree to the transfer. The window was to be open for a duration of 12 days – from 30 April to 11 May. Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Mahela Jayawardene had supported the move, but no franchise utilized the trading window.
As per the rules, a capped player was only eligible to be transferred if he has played less than two games this season. In the case of an uncapped player, there is no such rule binding their transfer and an uncapped player is eligible to be transferred irrespective of the number of games he has played.
No franchise took a call on it and the mid-season transfer window went unused. Almost every team had a big pool of players to choose from and they did not need any player by using the transfer window.
As many as 332 cricketers (186 Indian, 146 overseas players) will go under the hammer at the auction today in Kolkata with Australia’s all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and veteran South African fast bowler Dale Steyn among those opting for the highest base price of Rs 2 crore.
