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The Indian Premier League (IPL) has become a benchmark for T20 leagues around the world. Not just for the standard of cricket, players benefit in the monetary department as well. Having played for several franchises over the years, Australia's T20 World Cup-winning captain Aaron Finch wants Big Bash League (BBL) to drop the draft system and pick players via an IPL-like auction.
"I'd like to see an auction come in," the former Melbourne Renegades captain told the Powerplay on ESPN's Around The Wicket. "Each team potentially has the ability to retain maybe four of their players and then you say everybody else in the country, you're into an auction. I think that that would create a great spectacle.
"We see it in the IPL, it's brilliant, creates evenness across the board I think. What it does give you as well is it gives you what the players are worth. So at times, depending on what your team needs, you might have to overpay for someone. But if it's an auction, that's generally what the price of a player is."
However, his former teammate Glenn Maxwell, who has been often roped in for huge sums in the IPL auction wants BBL to not follow IPL as it may see homegrown players leaving their teams.
"You've still got to have a way to keep your homegrown players in your home state, [to] still have that relevance," the explosive Melbourne Stars batter said.
Challenges BBL is facing in recent years
With T20 leagues mushrooming around the world, the BBL has struggle to retain overseas players. Due to ILT20 and SA20, overseas players often opt for a bigger paycheck rather than playing BBL.
Additionally, Australia's international cricket does not stop like the IPL during the BBL season which leads to an absence of star players. Recently, Sydney Cricket Ground was packed to see Steve Smith bat for Sydney Sixers in the BBL. He had a brief stint playing just three matches in the BBL after the conclusion of Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 as he had to leave for a camp in Dubai ahead of Test series on Sri Lanka soil.
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