IPL 2020 | Inter-team loans of capped players set to be introduced

With the much-awaited IPL auction knocking on the door, the fate of the players and the eight franchises will be sealed on December 19. Amidst everything new and fresh, the upcoming edition will also be seeing, for the first time in IPL history, the loaning of capped players - both Indian and overseas players - between teams after the halfway point in the season.

In the previous edition, IPL 12, this provision was only applied in the case of uncapped players. All players except the capped recruits were allowed to be loaned by teams mid-season, emulating the system of football transfers. For that, a five-day window around halfway point of the season was opened for uncapped players to be loaned, with a specified condition wherein the said player should not have played more than two matches. While Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma and their head coach Mahela Jayawardene supported the idea, no franchise employed that five-day trading window.

But it’s understood that the teams might be more open to utilizing this system in the coming season as the capped players are now in the mix. In this case, the condition that is set is that the player needs to have played a maximum of two matches before the midway season (28 matches). The arrangement will purely be an inter-franchise affair and the money will be paid from outside the auction purse. However, only teams, and no players, will benefit from the transfer. The IPL management would also be notified about the transaction.