NEW DELHI, Jan 11: The IPL Governing Council on Tuesday decided to issue the Letter of Intent to new IPL franchises Lucknow and Ahmedabad, formalising their entry into the world’s biggest T20 league.
RPSG Group and private investment firm CVC had successfully bid for the Lucknow and Ahmedabad franchise, respectively, last October.
However, the LOI got delayed after it emerged that CVC had links with betting companies outside India.
The BCCI, with the help of its legal team, took its time to probe the issue before deciding to approve the CVC bid.
“The bids were approved by the GC today, LOI will be issued soon,” IPL chairman Brijesh Patel said after the meeting.
The issuance of LOI means the two teams are formally part of the IPL, allowing them to pick players ahead of the auction on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru.
Both the franchises have already recruited the support staff and they can now go ahead and sign up to three players each from the draft pick ahead of the mega auction.
KL Rahul is expected to lead Lucknow and Hardik Pandya Ahmedabad.
New teams to have 10-14 days to pick players
The IPL chief said the GC plans to give them 10-14 days to pick the players before the auction.
“We have been talking to the new teams, we are planning to give them 10 days to two weeks,” said Patel, adding that there has been no change in the date and place of auction.
With India experiencing a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the BCCI is exploring back-up options for the IPL, expected to be held in April-May, and it includes hosting the entire event in one state. However, Patel said it is still too early to decide on the matter.
The entire edition of 2020 was held in the UAE due to the pandemic. The tournament returned to India the following year but had to be suspended in May amid a devastating second wave in the country.
The rest of the IPL had to be completed in the UAE in September-October.
Tata group emerges as IPL’s title sponsors
One of India’s largest business conglomerates, the Tata Group, will replace Chinese mobile manufacturer Vivo as the Indian Premier League’s title sponsor for the next two years.
As per reliable sources, the Tatas will be paying around Rs 670 crore for two years of title sponsorship while Vivo will pay a total of Rs 454 crore for termination of contract which makes it a win-win situation for the BCCI as it is set to earn a whopping Rs 1124 crore for seasons 2022 and 2023 respectively.
“Yes, Tata group is coming in as IPL title sponsor,” IPL chairman Brijesh Patel confirmed the development.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah welcomed the company in the new role.
“This is indeed a momentous occasion for the BCCI IPL as the Tata Group is the epitome of global Indian enterprise with an over 100 year old legacy and operations in more than 100 countries across six continents,” Shah was quoted as saying in a media release.
It is learnt that Tata Group could remain title sponsors for the IPL’s 2023 season too as that was the one year concession given to Vivo since it lost a season of sponsorship in 2020. (PTI)
