3 ways in which the 2 new teams will impact the IPL

Starting from the 2022 season, the Indian Premier League (IPL) will have 10 teams, with the bidding done for the Lucknow and Ahmedabad franchises earlier this week.

IPL 2022 will be the first season to feature 10 teams since 2011.

The RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, or RPSG Group, won the bid for the Lucknow franchise, while CVC Capital Partners won it for Ahmedabad.

RPSG Group made a bid of Rs 7090 crore for the Lucknow franchise, while the Ahmedabad team went for Rs 5625 crore. There will be a Mega Auction ahead of IPL 2022 as well, which has given fans plenty to be excited about.

Reportedly, the existing teams will be allowed a maximum of four retentions, while the two new franchises will be given the opportunity to pick three players each from the auction pool, so as to level the playing field as much as possible.

There will be no Right-to-Match option at the auction, which will likely be held in December.

It also remains to be seen whether IPL 2022 will see the tournament return to India, after IPL 2020 was held in the UAE. The second half of the 2021 season was also moved there after an attempt to hold it at home saw a number of COVID-19 cases in the bio-bubble as the second wave ravaged India.

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Potential impact of the two IPL new teams:

#1 Opportunity for more players to shine

The IPL has provided opportunity to several youngsters to excel.

There is no question that IPL has had a huge impact on cricket across the world. The tournament's motto has been "Where talent meets opportunity" and it has lived up to that statement.

Every year, several young players come to play in the IPL and shine, and there is now a problem of plenty for selectors.

This was probably best showcased when, due to the COVID-19 situation, India had to send different squads to England and Sri Lanka. With most of India's main players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah in England, a largely second-string side with some experienced players was chosen to go to Sri Lanka.

India won the ODI series in Sri Lanka but lost the T20I series after a Covid outbreak in the team, but the fact that they were able to put out a very formidable lineup with several first-choice players unavailable showed the amount of talent available for the selectors to pick from.

With two new teams coming in, more players who had been warming the benches earlier will get the chance to play regularly.

Apart from Indian players, several world class overseas players who couldn't find a team earlier will now get an opportunity to play in the league.

Players like Adil Rashid and Tabraiz Shamsi failed to find a team until last season, while Joe Root is rumored to be interested in throwing his name in the hat for next year.

So the two new teams will see more players exposed to the league, which will not only benefit them, but the tournament as well.

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#2 More matches

The IPL will see 74 matches from the 2022 season as opposed to 60.

The IPL is one of the most entertaining tournaments in the sport, with great cricket and lots of drama. There are heated rivalries and nail-biting thrillers and fans get to see their favorite teams in action every two or three days.

With two new teams added, there will be more matches, meaning more action and more drama. Instead of the 60 matches that happen with the eight teams in the league, the tournament will now see 74 games a season.

The IPL is set to adopt a model similar to the one in 2011, with the 10 teams divided into two groups of five. Each team will play the four other teams in their group twice, and one team from the other group twice as well. They will face the other four teams from the other group just once.

The league table will have all 10 teams and the top four teams will reach the playoffs, which will follow the same model as before, with the Eliminator and two Qualifiers.

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#3 Valuation of franchises to increase

The high bids for the new franchises will drive up the valuation of the other teams too.

With the two new franchises attracting massive bids, the value of the older teams will also increase, meaning that the owners can now sell their stake at a higher price if they wish to.

The two new franchises have been purchased for Rs 7090 crore and Rs 5626 crore respectively, and this will significantly push up the valuation of the other clubs.

On top of that, revenue from media rights and central sponsorships for the franchises is also set to increase.