CHENNAI: It's official now. Hardik Pandya is no longer a Gujarat Titan. After leading the new IPL franchise to consecutive finals, including a title triumph, the all-rounder is returning to Mumbai Indians. In what is an all-cash deal, the five-time champions have secured the services of Titans' skipper for a price that was not made public. And for that trade, they are being deducted `15 crore from the auction purse — the salary that GT was paying Hardik.
It is one of a kind and probably the first time a captain was retained and then traded. And here, there is a clause in the BCCI guidelines according to which, MI, GT and Hardik have entered into an agreement with a negotiated increase. It means that apart from the Rs 15 crore, MI will be liquidating assets to pay a certain amount which would be shared between Hardik and Titans.
According to the IPL rules, the player should not get more than 50 per cent of the excess amount that the buying franchise is shelling out. And to ensure that they have enough money in the purse to make the transfer, MI made another all-cash deal where they traded Cameron Green to Royal Challengers Bangalore for `17.5 crore. This successful move made the trade of Hardik possible.
Purely from a cricketing sense, here is an all-rounder who joined a new team and set up two years ago, and has made a name for himself as a captain in the cricketing fraternity. And now, Hardik is going back to a place where Rohit Sharma is still the captain (it should not come as a surprise if it changes).
How to make sense of it? Santosh N, managing partner of D & P Advisory, tries to explain why this sporting deal is so different from a commercial transaction between two corporations. "Let us assume you're talking about a large company which is trying to sell off the division. Now the buyer and the seller need to agree and then the division, an employee of a division, is not even checked whether they want to stay with the company or go to the new buyer. So there it is transacted like any asset. But here, it is very different because the player in question needs to be aligned with this transaction, otherwise he would not be giving his 100%. The player also has to sign the deal here with the negotiated increase," says Santosh, who has been studying the IPL brand over the years.
Now, one of the widely expressed concerns with the trade is that this could favour franchises with deeper pockets. Santosh, however, feels that barring the two new teams, the rest of the teams can put up the money to make such trades. "I would basically say that today, except for the last two ones (GT and Lucknow Super Giants), everybody else is making reasonable profits, `400-500 crore almost every year. So for them to maybe even if they have to pay, say `20-30 crore as an undisclosed amount to get a player whom they think can add significant value, I don't see that to be a big issue because most of these teams are making enough money today. I don't think this is such a big show-stopper for them from a financial perspective," adds Santosh.
What Hardik's trade to MI also does is set a precedent for the future. While it is the first of its kind, Santosh expects more such trades in the coming years. "This happens all the time in football. Yes, this was supposed to happen. However, I did not expect it to happen so soon because largely everything is controlled by the BCCI. So, from that perspective, I thought that maybe the BCCI would allow this a few years down the line. In fact, if you remember in 2010, Ravindra Jadeja was with Rajasthan Royals and a private approach happened between him and a franchise without RR's involvement (Jadeja was handed a one-year ban). So see that these things are bound to happen.
“Now there is a precedent set, so this can become a template for many such deals going forward. It is good that there is a framework now. This will help the franchisees. It can be beneficial for one franchise and not so beneficial for the other but if they're doing a deal, if two franchisees are doing a deal, I'm assuming in some fashion, both would be beneficial. Like here, Gujarat Titans are letting go of a player who is keen to leave for MI and in the process, they are making some money out of it," he said, before adding that it could be different for an uncapped Indian player or an international player without an IPL legacy.
“Virat Kohli moving away from RCB may not happen at all, same is the case with MS Dhoni. They have a legacy. But, there would be certain foreign players and uncapped Indian players who may not really bother because they want an opportunity whether it is for RCB or MI or CSK. They want an exposure but for key Indian players it is important where they are,” said Santosh.
