Cuttack (SunstarTV Bureau): India’s Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) has given its approval to add two more Indian Premier League (IPL) teams in the next edition of the tournament in 2022.
Meanwhile, the BCCI has put up six cities – Guwahati, Ranchi, Cuttack (all East), Ahmedabad (West), Lucknow (Central Zone) and Dharamsala (North) for sale in a bid.
Reportedly, the base price of these new teams have been set at a Rs 2,000 crore, a steep rise from the Rs 850 crore that SunRisers Hyderabad paid in 2012.
A BCCI statement said that, “The Governing Council of the IPL invites bids to acquire the right to own and operate new teams proposed to be introduced to take part from IPL 2022 season.”
With the addition of two new teams, the next season of the IPL will witness 74 matches instead of the usual 60. More matches also equate to more sponsorship rights that could see an additional financial windfall of more than Rs 800 crore.
The BCCI wants to expand the cash-rich tournament to other parts of India’s cricketing map. The absence of any south based city in the list is down to the region already having three teams in Royal Challengers Bangalore, Chennai Super Kings and SunRisers Hyderabad.
