The BCCI has decided not to terminate Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) from the Indian Premier League. Instead it will include two new teams in their place in the upcoming seasons.
Tenders for the two new teams will be floated soon, while CSK and RR will be back in the mix from the 2018 season.
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Both the teams are currently serving a two-year suspension recommended by the Supreme Court-appointed Justice R M Lodha committee for their involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal.
Today’s decision by the BCCI will make the next two IPLs an eight-team affair. However, the BCCI did not clarify whether IPL will be a 10-team affair from 2018, when CSK and RR will come back to the fold.
IPL Working Group had made four recommendations out of which one recommendation has been accepted by the BCCI working committee. The two vacant slots (created by CSK and RR) should be auctioned for two years. After that, we will decide whether to go for two more franchises or we should confine IPL to eight teams.
– Rajeev Shukla, IPL Chairman
Asked if new franchises will be from Chennai and Jaipur, Shukla said: “City preference is not there as the highest bidder will get to choose.”
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