The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finalised the two new Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises – Lucknow and Ahmedabad – on Monday after the final bids were submitted by the authorised representatives of the interested parties in Dubai. The new franchises will participate in IPL from the 2022 season onwards subject to the bidders completing the post-bid formalities as specified in the ITT document.
The Indian cricket board announced the following successful bidders (subject to definitive documentation and other formalities being completed):
RPSG Ventures Ltd – Lucknow (for INR 7,090 crores)
Irelia Company Pte Ltd (CVC Capital Partners) – Ahmedabad (for INR 5,625 crores).
BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, while addressing a press conference on Monday, said he was not surprised by the bidding numbers submitted by the various interested parties.
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“We were not surprised actually, this (IPL) is a big brand and we are extremely happy that Indian cricket is moving growing forward. That is what is important for us. Congratulations to Sanjeev and CVC for being number one and number two but we look at Indian cricket and that’s what our job is. The more Indian cricket prospers, the better it is,” said Ganguly.
“All the money goes back to the Indian cricket. That’s what we are here for, we want Indian cricket to go forward and it has gone long way forward in the few years. This is the 14th season of IPL and the brand has grown and I think it is a great sign for us,” he added.
The 15th edition of the IPL will now have ten teams and around 74 matches will be played. Each team will play seven home and as many away matches.
IPL Governing Council (GC) chairman Brijesh Patel stated: “We had nine bidders, all of them were qualified. CVC group quoted 5,625 crores for Ahmedabad and 5,116 crores for Lucknow. RP Goenka ventures quoted 7,090 crores for Ahmedabad, For Indore 4,790 and for Lucknow 7,090 crores.”
“The highest was the Goenka group and they were highest for both Ahmedabad and Lucknow. And they preferred to take Lucknow as their franchise. CVC was second highest and they got Ahmedabad for 5,625 crores,” he added.
(With Agency Inputs)
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