Rajkot, Pune to replace CSK, RR as new IPL franchisees

Pune return to IPL action after two year gap

The Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) announced Rajkot and Pune as the new Indian Premier League (IPL) franchisees for the next two seasons. Their new owners are mobile phone manufacturer Intex and New Rising respectively.

Intex will be paying Rs 10 crores for the Rajkot franchise. Sanjiv Goenka’s New Rising will shell out close to Rs 16 crore for the Pune team. Both franchises will not be included in the profit sharing model created by Central Revenue Pool. A total of 21 companies bid for the team, with the lowest bid getting selected.

A senior BCCI official earlier said, “There are 21 corporates and large business houses which have bought bid documents. Now buying bid documents doesn't necessarily mean participating in the bid.”

The BCCI recently introduced this unique bidding system aiming to reduce to bring structure to their process. IPL Chairman Rajiv Shukla said, “It will be a walk in bid on December 8. The base price for reverse bid from central revenue pool is Rs 40 crore and the party which bids for lowest share from central revenue pool will be the winner of new team.”

The 10 cities that were initially shortlisted were Chennai, Ahmedabad, Ranchi, Rajkot, Dharamsala, Indore, Pune, Kanpur, Nagpur and Visakhapatnam.