IPL 2021 WILL NOT INCLUDE NEW FRANCHISES IN THE TOURNAMENT; BCCI OFFICIALS SHARE BIG UPDATE AND CHANGES! 

Since IPL 2020 has ended, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already pulled up its socks for the coming season. Reports suggest that the upcoming edition is scheduled to take place in March-April, 2021.

So in a short span of time, the board has to decide on the mega-auction, the venues and dates for the matches. Moreover, reports of adding two more teams have also been doing the rounds. 

While the matter is set to be discussed at the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) this month, the lack of time over the matter could see the additions of new franchises being postponed to the 2022 season.

As the 14th edition of the IPL is likely to be held in March-April, BCCI has only a few months to finalise the details, including players' auction, schedule, venue amid the Covid-19 pandemic. 

"Time is too short for introduction of the new teams for IPL in 2021. Tendering, players auction and most importantly getting all the stakeholders on the same page will be really challenging in short-time span. We are of the view, any addition to the team should only happen for IPL 2022", a BCCI official told InsideSport.

Meanwhile, the board is also keen to add two more franchises to the T20 league but is looking to make the additions in 2022 instead of next year. 

“Our broadcast rights deal with Star will end by IPL 2021. After the end of the cycle we should introduce new teams so that the broadcast rights and other commercial partnership values can be increased. Final decision now will be taken in AGM only and according to me the plan to increase teams will be shelved this year. Ten teams will mean 94 matches in the home and away format. That implies a bigger window for the tournament, which may be tough given the current situation”, said another BCCI official.

However, one of the franchises is likely to be from Ahmedabad while Kanpur/Lucknow could be the other, as per Times Now report.