Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has questioned the feasibility of the Right To Match (RTM) rule in its current form ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, suggesting changes to it. The IPL officials are currently deliberating about whether to re-introduce the RTM rule in the league, and the 37-year-old weighed-in with his take on it.
After being introduced for the first time in 2014, the Right to Match (RTM) rule hasn’t been used in the IPL auctions in 2018. RTM rule allows a team to automatically sign a player in the IPL auction, who has represented them in the previous season of the tournament, if they match the highest bid by the other team.
During Kris Srikkanth’s YouTube show, Cheeky Cheeka, Ravichandran Ashwin shared his views on the RTM rule in the IPL and said, “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.”
“You give the option to the player asking if he wants to be right to matched. 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,” he added.
Impact Player rule gives a little more value for strategy: Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin also supported the implementation of the Impact Player rule in the IPL, which has caught a lot of flak in recent times. He said, “Why I think the Impact Player rule is not so bad is because it gives a little more value for strategy. The other side of that argument is it doesn't encourage allrounders. But no one is stopping them.”
“In this generation, they don't do it [batters opting to bowl and the other way around]. It's not like they're discouraged because of the Impact Player rule. Look at Venkatesh Iyer, he's currently rocking for Lancashire. There's an opportunity for innovation and it makes the game fairer,” he added.
