BCCI Reveals Two New Franchises That Could Be A Part Of IPL 2021

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is set to increase the talks of the rumoured new franchises for the next season of the Indian Premier League(IPL). The BCCI, headed by President Sourav Ganguly and Secretary, Jay Shah along with the IPL governing council did a tremendous job in successfully conducting the 13th edition of the IPL in UAE amidst the threats posed by the covid-19 virus. Mumbai Indians won their fifth IPL title – two on a trot – as the season concluded on November 10th in Dubai.

Now, the governing body is ready to look forward to the next season. Ganguly has earlier hinted that BCCI is planning to host the mega-event next year in India itself, and during the regular March-April-May window. It is also rumoured that one or two new teams are going to be added for the 2021 season.

Ahemadabad is the frontrunner for one of the brand new teams- the newly built Motera Stadium with a capacity of over 100,000 crowds is the key reason for that. These things will be clarified further after the BCCI Annual General Meeting (AGM) which is scheduled for 24th December.

Time is too short for the introduction of new teams: BCCI

The secretary of the Assam Cricket Association (ACA),  Devajit Lon Saikia has proposed for the city of Guwahati to be added as one new team in the IPL. However, the BCCI is unlikely to agree to it. It is planned that apart from Ahmedabad, one among Pune, Lucknow, and Kanpur would be the other team in the tournament.

As quoted by InsideSport, a senior BCCI official said, “Teams are not granted to any state associations. BCCI AGM may approve the inclusion of 1 or 2 teams for the next edition. Ahmedabad will be one of the cities; other cities like Pune, Lucknow, Kanpur can also be included in the list. Inclusion of Guwahati in the list of potential cities at this stage is unlikely.”

Also, the official pointed out that the time for preparation of inclusion for two or even one new team is very less for the IPL 2021. Hence, the 2022 season is more probable to have a new team compared to the next season.

“Time is too short for the introduction of the new teams for IPL in 2021. Tendering, players auction and most importantly getting all the stakeholders on the same page will be really challenging in a short time-span. We are of the view, any addition to the team should only happen for IPL 2022,″ a BCCI official stated.

“Ten teams will mean 94 matches in the home and away format. That implies a bigger window for the tournament, which may be tough given the current situation”, another BCCI official added.

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