Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
With Lucknow and Ahmedabad joining the Indian Premier League, the world's best cricket league is now all set to feature 10 teams from next season onwards. As a result, BCCI have announced a mega auction before the start of IPL 2022 which has created a lot of buzz and excitement among the fans.
Although the auctions were initially planned to take place in the first week of January in UAE, the latest report reveals that the event might actually be hosted in Bengaluru on February 7-8 if the pandemic situation remains under control in the country.
BCCI wants to conduct mega auctions in India
“Unless the COVID-19 situation worsens, we will have the IPL mega auction in India. The two-day event will be held on February 7 and 8 and like other years, we plan to hold it in Bengaluru. Preparations are underway,” a senior BCCI official told PTI as quoted by InsideSport.
It has been reported that the board wants to conduct the mega auctions in India to ensure that there are less logistical challenges as compared to the event taking place in UAE.
Final verdict on Ahmedabad franchise not yet out
Notably, one of the main reasons behind the postponement of the mega auctions has been the uncertainty around the ownership of the Ahmedabad franchise. CVC Capital, who bought the team a few months back, have reportedly come under scrutiny for their involvement in international betting businesses.
As a result, a committee has been set up to determine if they can legally own an IPL franchise or not, because of which there have been so many changes in the original schedule. Before the mega auctions, Lucknow and Ahmedabad are also required to announce the signings of 3 players each (from the list of available players) which is also supposed to be done this month itself.