IPL 2021: Schedule, Auction, New Team, All The Details We Know So Far

The 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League [IPL] has barely ended and the preparations around the makeup of the 14th season have already started by the Board of Control for Cricket in India [BCCI].

From the tournament getting a new franchise to it coming back to India following a mega-auction, there have been a plethora of developments in the past 48 years.

The 13th edition of the IPL was a one of a kind event in the oddest of year that has been 2020. The tournament which was initially set to take place in March-April in India had to be pushed to the bio-secure environment of the United Arab Emirates for the September-November window after it was previously postponed due to the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic.

IPL 2021 to place in India- BCCI President Sourav Ganguly

With the IPL getting successfully staged in the bio-secure environment of the UAE,  there were speculations that the 14th season might also take place in the same country.

But BCCI President Sourav Ganguly recently quashed those speculations, when in an interview to India Today he said that the apex cricketing body in the country is looking to host the 14th season back in India.

”Yeah, absolutely. April, May we’ll have another one [IPL 2021 season]. No, no it’s not true [the speculations]. The UAE was only for the IPL. Yeah, yeah. We will host England in India. We will host the domestic cricket in India. Ranji Trophy, we will create bio bubble and we will do it,” Sourav Ganguly told India Today.

“We’ll be fine. ISL starting in November in Goa, we’ll be fine. The scare, that is not there anymore and the IPL has helped a lot. [have taken ] 16 tests covid tests (laughs), so far being good,” he added.

Mega Auction to take place ahead of IPL 2021; 9th franchise to be added

With the next IPL just a few months away, there were speculations that the BCCI might push the mega-auctions till 2022.

But according to a BCCI insider, as quoted by several media houses, the apex body is looking to add a 9th team to the competition in order to ‘strike a financial balance’ due to the disruptions caused by the onslaught of the pandemic.

The 9th team is likely to be from Ahmedabad with its home ground set to be the newly renovated Sardar Patel Stadium. The auctions, according to reports, might take place in the month of  January till mid-February.

”The BCCI has plans to add a ninth team” to the IPL fold for the 2021 edition. The move, according to the insider, is aimed at striking a financial balance in the aftermath of the pandemic,”

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