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In a surprise move that could change the dynamics of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the next couple of years at least, Mumbai Indians have urged the BCCI to go easy on the mega auction. Instead, the five-time champion side has batted for a small-scale auction so that the franchisee can retain their best players.

In other words, Mumbai Indians not only want to retain their core players but also Rohit Sharma, who was unceremoniously removed as a captain of the team. In his place, Hardik Pandya led the side to a disastrous season. Sources said that the Mumbai Indians’ owners are still pondering a way out to retain all the T20 World Cup champion players – Hardik Pandya, Surya Kumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit.

A well-placed source confirmed to CricBlogger that IPL’s governing council in all probability will allow five retentions, which would include three Indians and two foreigners. These five retentions could also mean bad news for Mumbai Indians, who may not agree for five and perhaps could settle for six retentions. With Rohit already retired from international T20s, Mumbai India may have to leave out their former captain despite their wish to retain him if three Indians are allowed to be retained.

This is a catch-22 situation for Mumbai. However, there are teams who are also keen to have a policy in place instead of having a mega auction after three years, especially for those uncapped players who get branded by certain teams and then move on to some other side after some noticeable performances.

Like the Mumbai Indians, most of the teams are keen to retain their core players and with BCCI making it sure that the teams would be allowed to retain five, the July 31 meeting of the IPL GC and team owners would be interesting to see how things pan out. There are still a couple of teams who want to start on a clean slate while those who have done well want to retain their core players. Therefore, the BCCI will have its job cut out to ensure a balance is maintained rather than tilting towards certain big teams!