IPL 2024 Auction: "Mini-Auction Is Used By Players, Agents Cleverly" - Dinesh Karthik Wants BCCI To Take Action

Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik, who plays for RCB in the Indian Premier League, has opened up on the problems of the mini-auction. Karthik believes that foreign cricketers use the mini-auction very cleverly and earn big money.

The Indian wicketkeeper-batsman stated that the foreign players stay away from the mega auction and only put their names in the mini-auction to get big contracts. He also demanded a change in the rules.

Amid the criticism by Dinesh Karthik, the IPL 2024 auction was an action-packed day for all the IPL franchises as 72 players out of 332 were sold, and a lot of money was spent. Australian players were the highlight of the show as Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Spencer Johnson, and Travis Head were sold for whopping prices.

At one end, Mitchell Starc became the most expensive player in the IPL auction and was sold for INR 24.75 crore to Kolkata Knight Riders. Pat Cummins who had broken this record earlier was sold for INR 20.50 crore to Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Dinesh Karthik’s bombshell take on foreign players earning big money in mini IPL auction

Speaking in a video for Cricbuzz Dinesh Karthik highlighted an unhealthy practice that the players and agents have been using to get more money from the Indian Premier League (IPL). He said that the players have been using the loophole for a while.

“The third trend is an unhealthy one, not I am a big fan of. What I have noticed is, that the mini-auction is definitely used by players and agents very cleverly, they bring them on into the mini-auction and they go for absurd-unheard-of prices, knowing that the teams come in with a lot of money, they have some holes to fill and ends their price skyrocket level,” he said.

Dinesh Karthik further gave the example of Jasprit Bumrah, who comparatively earns less from his IPL contract despite being one of the best pacers in the world.

“I want to take an example, let’s take Jasprit Bumrah, he is at INR 11.00 crore (INR 12), now some of the bowlers who have come in the mini auction have gone for huge prices. Last year’s Cameron Green, last year’s Sam Curran, this year it is Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and it is no fault of there’s.

“They are just prioritizing their country, their cricket, looking after their bodies, and realizing oh now I will come in, but also it is a bit of a tactic, now in cricket there is a bit of tactics involved, how agents are using this tactic, where coming to the main auction which happens in every three years, they let that pass and come in the mini-auction that happens the year after and in that because of the whole’s available they go for some crazy pricing. This unhealthy trend should stop.”

Dinesh Karthik also came up with two solutions that the BCCI could use to deal with this issue. He elaborated:

“BCCI can, I have two solutions, A: Anybody coming in the mini auction after they have been released from the major auction can only go to the sealing of the price they have been bought in the mega auction. So that there is no bad blood among the players who have done well and have been retained in that team, most of the players who have been released into the mini-auction have come through probably they had not had a great year and I don’t think they should go for the price they achieved in the major auction.”

“The second one, in case a player has not been a part of the major auction and comes through into the mini-auction, I think he can only go up to the point of the highest-paid player in that team.”

I’m not a big fan of players coming straight into MINI auctions and
I feel foreign players and their agents seem to use it cleverly because they see a loophole there.

I feel BCCI can clamp down on this problem and I’ve given a couple of solutions in my recent video for… https://t.co/9xD4ioIIpV

— DK (@DineshKarthik) December 20, 2023

The IPL 2024 trading window has once again opened after the auction from December 20 and will once again close 30 days before the start of the next edition, as per reports.