The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has begun the preparations for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season and in all likelihood, there will be a mega-auction in the next two-three months.
In a report by The Hindu, the BCCI hierarchy has informally indicated to the IPL franchises that a full auction will be scheduled early next year, with an eye on the IPL’s possible return to India, after the 2020 edition was moved to the UAE because of the pandemic.
Earlier, there were speculations that there might be no auction or a mini-auction before the IPL 2021 as opposed to the three-yearly complete one, because of the less time gap between the two IPL seasons.
Moreover, according to a BCCI source, the auction is being planned as there are chances of addition of a 9th team into the mix for the 2021 edition. This is being done to meet the financial requirements that were hit hard due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
If the BCCI does decide to call tenders for purchasing the ownership of a team, in all likelihood a corporate giant from Ahmedabad is going to go all out for it. The Motera Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad was renovated last year and now has a record capacity of 1,10,000, surpassing the Melbourne Cricket Ground’s 90,000.
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