IPL 2024: 'Opt Out Card' - Former KKR chief suggests Groundbreaking Auction Rule after Sanjiv Goenka-KL Rahul Public Altercation - Is it Applicable?

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Former Kolkata Knight Riders team director Joy Bhattacharya has suggested BCCI to introduce a new rule in the IPL auctions after the ugly public reprimand of KL Rahul by LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka on Wednesday (May 8).

After Lucknow's defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad, the LSG owner was seen having an animated chat with KL Rahul in front of the cameras. It was not a happy visual as the India player was given a dressing down by Goenka for the manner of the defeat.

But the LSG owner's treatment of KL Rahul has garnered a lot of negative attention as netizens criticized Goenka and labelled it as 'unacceptable' & 'unprofessional' behaviour. Amid this, former KKR director and expert Joy Bhattacharya has suggested BCCI to introduce a new regulation in IPL auctions which may hand some power to the players.

Bhattacharya took to his X profile where he batted for the players, suggesting a change in the auction dynamic where each player can have an 'Opt Out Card'.

An Opt Out card is a player's right to choose a franchise of his own for whom he doesn't want to play. The player shall inform BCCI and the concerned franchise before the auction and the franchise won't be able to bid for the player. But he also made it clear that the Opt Out options can't be revealed in public to maintain sanity.

"After seeing the on field interaction yesterday between a player and an owner & a few stray incidents in the past, how about a suggestion that doesn't totally change the auction dynamic, but tilts it a little more in favour of players and gives them some choice in the matter.

What if each player had one opt out card? That means they have the right to say no to one franchise if they so choose. All the remaining franchises can bid for the player. The card is only known to the BCCI and the franchise he is opting out of has to be specified beforehand by the player. That franchise is not allowed to bid for the player, but that information need not even be revealed to the public so that everyone's reputation remains intact. How about it BCCI?" Bhattacharya wrote on his X profile.

MyKhel's take on Opt Out Card - Is it really Appliable?

It can actually be a major change but perhaps an apt one. In a phenomenon such as an auction, all the players are regarded as commodities and they are sold to the teams. Hence, given the reputations and the stature of every player, all of them must have the right to opt-out of a franchise.

But in hindsight, what happens if a section of players form a cahoot and decide to name one particular team in their 'Opt Out Card'? How fair will it be then for a particular franchise? Also, the bowlers can form a unity and name franchises such as RCB and MI in their Opt Out Card for the dimension of the boundaries! Many strange and ridiculous things can happen if this new thing is introduced.

That's why the practicality of this new suggestion may not be as viable and it looks a shot in the dark.