War of words in IPL owners' meeting? KKR's Shah Rukh Khan involved in heated argument with PBKS owner over mega auction - Report

07-31-2024
4 min read
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Per Cricbuzz, a major controversy has broken out from the BCCI-IPL owners meeting on Wednesday, July 31 as their report suggests that a heated exchange took place between two IPL owners

IPL 2024 champions, Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) owner Shah Rukh Khan got into a verbal argument with Punjab Kings’ (PBKS) owner Ness Wadia. 

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The ongoing meeting is being held for the BCCI to have a discussion with the owners over some suggestions ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.

The mega auction results in a major shuffle of players between the franchises, needing the owners of all the franchises to have a planned strategy for the season. 

Some franchises have even suggested that BCCI should completely scrap the idea of having a mega auction, relieving the team management of going through the tedious retention and releasing process. 

However, a select few are against the idea and rather would like to move forward with the idea of the mega auction. 

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What happened between Shah Rukh Khan and Ness Wadia?

KKR had a brilliant 2024 season with the team striking the perfect balance and all players performing consistently to win their third title in history. However, if a mega auction takes place, the reigning champions will be only allowed to retain a few players from their champion side ahead of their title defence season. 

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This prompted the celebrity and owner, Shah Rukh Khan to support the idea of scrapping the mega auction completely or increasing the retention. 

Meanwhile, on the other hand, Ness Wadia’s PBKS had a season to forget, finishing second from the bottom of the table. With their exit from the competition before the playoffs, PBKS became the first team to fail to finish in the top four for 10 consecutive seasons.

Wadia for this reason, was in favour of going forward with the planned mega auction so that the franchise can build a better squad for the upcoming season. 

The difference in opinion between the two led to a heated exchange during the ongoing meeting.

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What did BCCI say at the end of the IPL owners' meeting?

After the meeting, the parent body issued a statement that read, 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Wednesday organized a constructive dialogue with the owners of the 10 franchises on various subjects pertaining to the upcoming season of the TATA IPL.

The franchise owners tabled feedback on player regulations and other commercial aspects, including central merchandising, licensing, and gaming. The BCCI will now take these recommendations to the IPL Governing Council for further deliberation and evaluation before formulating the IPL player regulations.