BCCI to auction two new IPL teams in May: Reports

The BCCI has decided to auction off two new IPL teams in May. The new IPL teams will be part of the competition from 2022, as it converts into a ten-team affair.

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, secretary Jay Shah and other board members held a meeting on Saturday to chart out a plan of action for the new IPL teams. They discussed how numerous decisions taken by the IPL Governing Council at the start of the year would be executed.

A senior BCCI official, speaking to PTI, confirmed the development, revealing that the IPL will have two new teams even before its 2021 edition has come to an end.

"The 10 team IPL will roll on from next year and the bidding process and finalisation of the new franchises will be completed by the month of May this year. Once the teams are finalised, they can start their operational work which takes considerable time."

The IPL last had ten teams in 2011, when Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors India were part of the competition. The IPL season had 74 matches that year, and it will be interesting to see how IPL 2022 gets scheduled.

It currently takes a shade under two months to execute a complete season of the IPL. But with two new teams coming in, the length of the IPL season is set to increase. How the BCCI manages a longer IPL and whether it can ensure the availability of foreign players for an extended period are some of the things that are still unclear.

IPL to stick by two new team plan

🚨 BCCI announces schedule for VIVO IPL 2021 🚨The season will kickstart on 9th April in Chennai and the final will take place on May 30th at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.More details here - https://t.co/yKxJujGGcD #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/qfaKS6prAJ

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 7, 2021

The latest news refutes suggestions that the BCCI is only looking to add one new team for next year’s competition. Earlier reports argued that the board would add just one team for next year to get a higher bid for a potential 10th team in the season after that.

It was also suggested that nine-team IPL will allow the BCCI to accommodate a new team without a drastic change in the competition’s schedule.

When the announcement to expand the IPL was first made last year, Mumbai Mirror disclosed that the Adani Group and Sanjiv Goenka Group were some of the parties interested in bidding for an IPL team.