Ahmedabad and Lucknow are the two new members of the Indian Premier League (IPL) family as it will now be a ten-team affair from the next season.

New Delhi [India] : The bidding took place at the Taj Hotel in Dubai on Monday and it is the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group (RPSG) (Lucknow) and CVC Capital Partners (Ahmedabad) who will join the cash-rich league as the new owners, a BCCI official confirmed this development.
The IPL’s first season was played in 2008, and ever since, the league has grown in stature and it is one of the most viewed competitions in the world.
Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals, SunRisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings, and Rajasthan Royals have been with the league since its inception. The Hyderabad franchise was earlier named Deccan Chargers but it came to be known as SunRisers Hyderabad after a change in ownership.
There have been fourteen seasons of the IPL tournament. The fifteenth season promises to be like no other and viewership is all set to increase.
In 2010, two new franchises – Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala – joined the league before the fourth season in 2011 and for a brief period, the league was played by ten teams.
One year later in November 2011, it was announced that Kochi Tuskers Kerala side would be terminated following it “breaching” the BCCI’s terms of conditions. Pune Warriors India had withdrawn from the IPL in 2013 over financial differences with the board.
But it is all set to be a 10-team affair again come 2022.

Ganguly ‘not surprised’ by bidding numbers for new IPL teams

Dubai [UAE : The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly on Monday said he was not surprised by the bidding numbers which were submitted by the various interested parties for the new franchises.
The bids were submitted by the authorised representatives of the interested parties in Dubai. BCCI announced the following successful bidders (subject to definitive documentation and other formalities being completed): RPSG Ventures Ltd. – Lucknow (for INR 7,090 crores) and Irelia Company Pte Ltd (CVC Capital Partners) – Ahmedabad (for INR 5,625 crores). Sourav Ganguly in a press conference after the announcement while replying to ANI query said: “We were not surprised actually, this (IPL) is a big brand and we are extremely happy that Indian cricket is moving growing forward. That is what is important for us. Congratulations to Sanjeev and CVC for being number one and number two but we look at Indian cricket and that’s what our job is. The more Indian cricket prospers, the better it is.”
“All the money goes back to the Indian cricket. That’s what we are here for, we want Indian cricket to go forward and it has gone long way forward in the few years. This is the 14th season of IPL and the brand has grown and I think it is a great sign for us,” BCCI President added.
IPL Governing Council (GC) chairman Brijesh Patel stated: “We had nine bidders, all of them were qualified.”
“CVC group quoted 5,625 crores for Ahemadabad and 5,116 crores for Lucknow. RP Goenka ventures quoted 7,090 crores for Ahemadabad, For Indore 4,790 and for Lucknow 7,090 crores.”
“The highest was the Goenka group and they were highest for both Ahmedabad and Lucknow. And they preferred to take Lucknow as their franchise. CVC was second highest and they got Ahmedabad for 5,625 crores,” he informed.
The new franchises will participate in IPL from the 2022 season onwards subject to the bidders completing the post-bid formalities as specified in the ITT document. The IPL 2022 season will comprise ten teams and will have 74 matches, wherein each team will play seven home and seven away matches.