CHENNAI: The Indian Premier League’s Governing Council will meet virtually on Tuesday to hand out the letter of intent (LOI) to two new franchises Lucknow and Ahmedabad. The two franchises owned by Sanjeev Goenka’s RPSG Group and CVC Capital respectively have been told informally about their induction into the league with only paperworks waiting to be completed.
CVC’s ownership of the Ahmedabad franchise has been under the review for some time thanks to its close association with a betting firm in the United Kingdom. The BCCI had set up an independent panel to review its deal and only agreed to include them on board after the legal formalities were cleared.
It is understood that once the two franchises receive the LOI, the IPL GC will formally announce a window for them to sign three players before the players auction. It is learnt that the two teams will get time till this month end to finalise the players as the BCCI is keen on hosting the players’ auction on February 12 and 13. While the BCCI was planning to hosting the auction in Bengaluru, it may be forced to to take it overseas, and a decision on this will be out by Tuesday.
With regards to the two new teams and the players, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan and Rashid Khan are being linked with Ahmedabad and look certain to be picked. However, for Lucknow, it understood that the franchise is still in talks with the Indian players and is yet to agree terms.
IPL 2022 in India
Even though the third wave has stopped India’s domestic season, the BCCI is in no mood to host the next edition of the IPL in the United Arab Emirates. It is understood that at the worst case scenario, the Indian cricket board will host the tournament in Mumbai and Pune with Ahmedabad an option for the knockouts.
“The IPL begins only in April. By then, the third wave will come down. And moreover even the vaccine drive will be on. So the IPL can still be hosted in India. The number of venues alone could vary,” an IPL official stated.