IPL 2022 New Teams: The ongoing Covid-19 menace in the country is hitting BCCI very hard. First, it led to suspension of IPL 2021 in the middle of the season, and now owing to the same reason, BCCI is all set to put plans to release tender for new IPL teams on hold for sometime. According to the information coming in from the BCCI sources, the Indian board has earlier planned to release the tender for the new IPL teams in May 2021 – but now it will be put on hold minimum till July.
According to one of the top BCCI officials, the board currently is more concerned about the uncompleted season and no discussion is taking place on the new teams.
“Time is not right to even talk about the new IPL teams at this stage. We have to first decide the way forward on the suspended season and then only decisions can be taken on the new teams for IPL 2022. No discussion in this regard is happening at this stage in the BCCI. We don’t see any moment on this before July”, declared senior BCCI official to InsideSport.co
Earlier in the month of March BCCI had decided to include two more new teams in the 15th edition of the league. The BCCI top brass including president Sourav Ganguly, secretary Jay Shah had announced that IPL 2022 will be a 10 team affair. It was also decided by the BCCI that at the business end of IPL 2021 the tenders for the auctions of two new teams will be released.
“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,” a senior BCCI source was quoted by PTI on conditions of anonymity. “Once the teams are finalised, they can start their operational work which takes considerable time,” the source had added.
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But all those plans are being put on back-burner for now. BCCI though is keen to include two more new teams in IPL 2022 – but the timelines for the tender & norms for auction is yet to be decided.
“We can’t give any timelines at this stage. As I said, no discussion currently in this regard is taking place in BCCI for now” told the source to InsideSport.co
IPL 2022 New Teams – Big questions in front of BCCI before deciding on the new teams ?
The biggest question currently in front of BCCI is how & when to complete the IPL 2021 season. BCCI President Sourav Ganguly himself has declared that if the season is not completed all stakeholders will lose big time. According to Ganguly, BCCI will roughly lose 2500 Cr if the season is cancelled.
“If we fail to complete the IPL, the loss will be close to INR 2500 crore (USD 340 million approximately). That is going by early estimates,” Ganguly told The Telegraph.
It is clear the entire focus currently for BCCI is, how to complete the remaining season of IPL 2021. Ganguly hinted the BCCI may soon open channels of communications with other cricket boards to explore a possible window in 2021.
“There has got to be a lot of shuffling. We have to speak to other boards and see if a window can be made available before the T20 World Cup. Lot of things are involved and we will slowly start working on them,” he said.
Once BCCI decides on the uncompleted season – then only they will think of releasing a tender for the new IPL Teams.
Another reason why the plans for new IPL teams are likely to get pegged back is the organization of T20 World Cup. The BCCI is scheduled to host the T20 World Cup in India in October which now may be shifted to UAE. In coming months, the BCCI will have a responsibility to host the World Cup and will also try their best to complete the pending IPL season before or after the T20 World Cup.
In middle of these uncertainties – it is unlikely new teams will be tendered for IPL 2022 anytime soon.
It is worth noting that BCCI can earn more than 1500 Cr by selling each team. According to information available with InsideSport, BCCI earlier was planning to keep 1500 Cr as a base price for the tender for new IPL teams which is almost 12-15 times than what it was at the times of auction in 2008. The first 8 teams were sold in IPL in 2008, the base price was USD 50Mn (Dollar was capped at Rs 35)
Mumbai Indians was sold to Ambani’s for $111.9 Mn
RCB at $111.6 Mn
Deccan Chargers went at $107 Mn
CSK was sold at $91 Mn
Delhi Daredevils – $84 Mn
Kings XI Punjab – $76 Mn
Kolkata Knight Riders – $75.09 Mn
Rajasthan Royals was the cheapest team at $67 Mn
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