Indian Premier League: Amidst the IPL auction euphoria, the question arises as to their usefulness in squad building

The auction garnered plenty of attention on social media, was watched by many and saw teams add 80 players to their ranks. 

However, it has been long since the talk of replacing the auction altogether – and in recent times, that talk has only ramped up. 

Delhi Capitals' co-owner Parth Jindal spoke out against the auction process last year, urging the relevant authorities to look at changing it. 

"It is heartbreaking to lose Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, and R Ashwin. The auction process is like this," Jindal had said ahead of the 2022 mega auction. 

"Going forward, the IPL needs to look at it because it is not fair that you build up a team, give youngsters a chance, groom them and they get opportunities for the franchises and play for their country and then you lose them after three years. IPL needs to have a relook." 

It is a valid point. Why would teams prioritise building a team when there is a mega auction every three years, and you're only allowed to retain a few choice players and release the rest into the auction pool again? 

Thus, the auction has a significant disadvantage regarding long-term squad building. So what can be done to change that? 

The idea is simple – do away with the auction altogether. 

It might seem blasphemous, but it is an excellent tool for television and little else. And there is a straightforward way to replace the auction, too – prioritise player trading and introduce a player draft. 

Player trading, in all fairness, is a process that has begun for teams, but only some, if any, will take too much advantage of it. 

The only team active in the trade market ahead of the 2023 auction were the Kolkata Knight Riders – they brought in Lockie Ferguson, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Shardul Thakur via trades. 

The other teams, however, preferred to wait for the auction instead, preferring to hedge their bets on value for money in the process. 

Yet a better way to ensure teams get value for money would be to abolish the auction and bring in a draft system. 

A draft would set players at specific prices, and teams could have their pick depending on the rounds that players won't come up in. 

There could also be a further option introduced to extend player contracts, as it happens not only in sports like football but also in the NBA, MLS, MLB, NFL, and other franchise-based leagues that the IPL is based on. 

A combination of the three – a draft, player trading, and long-term contracts – would instantly kill off franchises' issues with long-term team building. 

It would also help fans, as one of their more consistent complaints is that teams lose their identities too often. 

After all, a team's identity is with not just its fans but the players too. And it is hard to identify with a team when the most important aspect of the team – the players – consistently change.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Today was the culmination of a lot of hard work over the last few months from RCB’s backroom staff. Our retention base, overseas pickups &amp; domestic scouting has built another strong squad. Thanks as always to <a href="https://twitter.com/JamesNBCricket?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JamesNBCricket</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/CricViz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CricViz</a> for the work behind the scenes. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IPLAuction?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IPLAuction</a> <a href="https://t.co/VJVpSktlvI">pic.twitter.com/VJVpSktlvI</a></p>&mdash; Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/fwildecricket/status/1606350720198148096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> 

Thus, while an auction makes for good entertainment on television, it doesn't add much to the team's bottom line – and can be replaced in the way mentioned. 

It would be a win-win situation for fans, players and even the teams.