In a great news for cricketing fans in India, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary, Jay Shah on Saturday said that the next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will take place in India.
While attending an event, “The Champions Call” in Chennai, which was organised to celebrate Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) fourth IPL victory, Shah confirmed the development.
While addressing the crowd in the event, Shah has assured that the cash-rich league will return to India and it will be even more exciting as two new teams – Ahmedabad and Lucknow will be joining the lucrative league.
“I know you all are waiting to see the CSK play at Chepauk. Well, the moment is not very far. The 15th season of the IPL will take place in India and it will be more exciting than ever with two new teams joining,” the BCCI secretary said.
Notably, the Mega Auction for the next IPPL season will be held in December and the board secretary expected that the event will be ever more interesting with new combinations.
“We have a mega auction coming up, so it will be interesting to see what the new combinations look like,” Shah further said.
On October 25, the BCCI had confirmed that the Sanjeev Goenka-owned RPSG group and international investment firm – CVC Capital – have bagged the ownership rights of the two new franchises of the cash-rich league.
“BCCI is pleased to announce the following successful bidders (subject to definitive documentation and other formalities being completed): 1. RPSG Ventures Ltd. – Lucknow (for INR 7090 crores) 2. Irelia Company Pte Ltd. (CVC Capital Partners) – Ahmedabad (for INR 5625 crores),” the board had said.
This year, the IPL 2021 season was postponed indefinately due to the emergence of multiple Covid-19 positive cases in the tournament’s bio-bubble during the second leg following which, the board had announced to shift the league to the UAE.
Significantly, the complete 2020 season was also held in the UAE due to the pandemic.