IPL Commissioner Rajiv Shukla today announced the names of the two newest franchises of the league.
Pune gets back on the roster, with Rajkot becoming the newest city to bag the host status for the tournament. The new teams will replace Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for the next two years after both the former champions were suspended by the Supreme Court appointed Lodha Committee earlier this year.
Both Pune and Rajkot have been sold for a span of just two years.
The New Owners
Intex Group has bagged the rights for Rajkot while Kolkata-based businessman Sanjiv Goenka’s company New Rising has now owns the Pune franchise.
While Goenka will shell out Rs 16 crore per year to the BCCI, Intex Mobiles will pay Rs 10 crore.
The other three bidders in fray were Harsh Goenka of RPG properties, Axis Clinical and Chettinad Cement, all of whom quoted higher bids than New Rising and Intex Mobiles.
Pune of course did previously have a team in the league, but Sahara’s Pune Warriors were disbanded after there were payments issues with the company.
Bidding Process
The teams were sold through a reverse bidding process for which the base price was set at Rs 40 crore.
Since making a profit in the league in just two years would have been a tough task, the BCCI offered to give each team Rs 40 crores to start with. However, the ‘reverse bidding process’ meant the teams had to bid how little of the kitty they would dig into. The lowest bidder was given the franchise.
Intex bid minus 10 crore and Goenka’s company bid minus 16, meaning they would not only not touch the BCCI’s money, they would instead give the BCCI more to own the two teams.
Player Allotment
The interim franchises, which have been picked today, will participate in a draft to first retain their share of players from CSK and RR’s roster.
Players from CSK and RR will be divided into two groups of capped and uncapped and the top names will be sold through the draft system. The two new teams will have a minimum of Rs 40 crore and a maximum of Rs 66 crore to buy their players.
After 10 players are picked in this draft, the remaining members of the two teams go into the players’ auction in February.
Who Gets Dhoni?
While the players from CSK and RR enter a common draft, the team who gets to call dibs on MS Dhoni reportedly is the one that had submitted the lowest bid.
That team is now Pune who paid Rs 16 crore. That is, if he is their first pick. From their kitty of Rs 40 crore, Dhoni’s draft will be worth Rs 12.5 crore.
The Indian Express had reported earlier this week that a clause in the tender document stated that the team to submit the lowest bid will have the first right to pick the player of their choice.
What Next for CSK and RR?
Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals have both been suspended from the league for a span of two years after their owners were proven to have indulged in betting on IPL matches.
While the new teams will replace them for two years(in IPL season 9 and 10), from 2018 onwards, Chennai and Rajasthan will be back playing in the league.
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