Lucknow Super Giants coach Justin Langer has slammed the IPL mega-auction rule, calling it bizarre. The rule means that a mega auction will happen every three years, meaning a lot of teams end up losing their key players. While underperforming sides see it as an opportunity to rebuild, others have opposed the rule.
LSG themselves had to let go of players like KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis and others during the auction as they retained five players before the auction. This allowed them to buy Rishabh Pant during the auction for a record price of Rs. 27 crore. Speaking on the Beyond 23 Cricket Podcast, Langer said he would have liked to retain at least 20 players he had last season.
The LSG coach said that he cannot tell any other sport where such a system exists and he would have wanted to build a culture.
“Last year we had 25 players, we retained 5, the rest 20 went back in the pool. Then you have this mega auction, and then you start all over again every three years. It is bizarre. Can you tell any other sport where this happens? In my perfect world, I’d retain 20 players and build a culture, but that is not how it works,” said Langer.
“The hunger in India for work, I’ve never seen anything like it. They just practice, practice, practice. It is insane. I always thought we worked hard, but these guys are on a different level,” said Langer.
LSG are currently fifth in the points table and will face GT on April 12.
