As the Indian Premier League (IPL) prepares itself for the mega-auction, a rule that is likely to make its return is the Right-to-Match (RTM) card. But the veteran off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin remains against bringing back the rule but rather suggested a slight tweak in the rule.
The RTM allows a team to buy back an unretained player who played for the franchise in the most recent edition for the highest amount he has received in the auction.
“If a franchise has released a player because they don’t see him in their top four or five, then what gives them the right to jump in during an auction,” he questioned.
But Ashwin suggested that should a side believe that a particular player might not be part of their plans soon, then the side should not have a say in possibly reclaiming the player via RTM.
Instead, he suggests a different twist where the rule is utilised in a more player-centric approach. In his version of the rule, the player has a say on whether he wants to be used as an RTM with a predetermined amount that would be the set price by a player.
“You give the option to the player asking if he wants to be right to match. There should be a contract binding the two parties, which says he can be RTMed only if the price is X amount and leave that pre-determined amount to be decided by the player.”
