IPL: All you need to know about player trades
What's the story
Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya's historic return to Mumbai Indians has been making waves of late.
Player trades have always been around the Indian Premier League (IPL), but this is probably the first time many saw it happen in this magnitude.
Over the years, several marquee players have been traded to different IPL teams.
Here is all you need to know about the same.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Player trades often become an integral part of a franchise's team building ahead of any IPL auction.
A trade can be initiated by a player or a franchise. It can be an all-cash deal like Hardik's move to MI.
It can be a case of player swap like Devdutt Padikkal joining Lucknow Super Giants and Avesh Khan going to Rajasthan Royals.
Hardik Pandya
What transpired in Hardik's move back to Mumbai Indians?
It was Hardik who initiated the interest of moving back to Mumbai Indians, as per ESPNCricinfo. Hence, MI and Gujarat Titans immediately started discussions after the IPL 2023.
They discussed all possibilities, and eventually, an all-cash deal looked viable for both parties.
Therefore, Rs. 15 crore have been added to GT's purse while removing the same amount from MI's budget before the 2024 auction.
Trades
Duration of the trade window
A trade window opens a month after a season gets over and only closes a week prior to the auction.
The window opens again after the auction and closes only a month before the start of the new season.
The current trade window is open till December 12, seven days ahead of the auction on December 19.
Deals
Decoding the types of trades in IPL
There are two types of trade in the IPL. The first one is called the one-way trade where a team mostly gets involved in an all-cash deal to sign a player.
A two-way deal or player swaps are also common, which involves the exchange of players. But the value that a team pays for a player at the auction remains the same.
Transfer fee
What is a transfer fee?
In all-cash deals, an amount of transfer fee is paid by a franchise in addition to the player's price.
This does not impact the team's auction budget. Mostly, the details remain between the two parties and sometimes even players can get a share of the fee.
As per ESPNCricinfo, a player can get up to 50% of the transfer fee.
Player trades
Here are the player trades from this season (so far)
Hardik has moved from GT to MI, whereas Cameron Green has left MI to join Royal Challengers Bangalore for a hefty Rs. 17.5 crore.
Meanwhile, RR and LSG have swapped Padikkal and Avesh. Similarly, Mayank Dagar has joined RCB, while Shahbaz Ahmed has jumped ship to join SRH.
Lastly, Romario Shepherd has joined MI from LSG for Rs. 50 lakh.