We Have Been Told 2018 Auction Would Be An Open Auction Without Retention: Preity Zinta
May 1, 2017 at 12:11 PM
Preity Zinta, the Kings XI Punjab co-owner, has revealed that the IPL teams have been told there would be an open auction for the 2018 Indian Premier League season, which means no team will be able to retain any players. As of now, there has been no official word on how the auction will take place for the next season but speculations are rife that the 2018 players auction will be the biggest IPL auction yet, perhaps even longer the 2014 one which went for two days.
Another reason that is likely to make the next auction a big affair is that a lot of big names could be in the auction unlike the 2014 auctions when the governing body had allowed the franchises to retain five players (either capped or uncapped, no more than four of whom may be capped Indians) who were in its squad in 2013.
“It was meant to be an open auction without retention. We have been told about it. I will welcome it if BCCI decides to go for an open auction,” Zinta told The Times of India on Sunday (April 30).
But at the same time, the Bollywood actress insisted that she is happy with her current squad. Kings XI Punjab are currently fifth in the table with four wins from nine games.
“It doesn’t mean that I am not happy with my team. I think we have a great team. The teams which are doing well are the ones where the young Indian players are performing,” Preity said.
She further backed the idea of shifting a few home matches to other venues to maximise profits, claiming she is fed up of distributing free match passes.
“In the middle of the tournament, I can’t be talking about shifting our home matches to some other profitable venue. But I am quite tired distributing tickets like this. This is business and while I appreciate the backing of all our fans, it’s really difficult If I have to keep distributing free tickets to administrators, honestly then it doesn’t matter whether we play all our matches in Mohali or somewhere else,” she explained.
She also lavished praise on team’s ‘unbelievable’ coach Virender Sehwag.
“We have an unbelievable coach in Virender Sehwag. He is dynamic, helpful and extremely chilled out. He also has a super cricketing brain which makes him a very special coach,” she said.
Preity also said that the Indian Premier League has brought out the passion of the Indian cricket fans.
“When we played the Mumbai game, the fans were shouting at the top of their voice when Sehwag came out on the field. The atmosphere was electric. Similarly, the fans in Mohali cheered for AB de Villiers last year. It is fun seeing how the Indian fans appreciate good cricket.”