New Delhi: Teams from Pune and Rajkot will compete in the Indian Premier League, replacing the suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for a period of two years, it was announced here on Tuesday.
The Pune franchise was bought by New Rising, a subsidiary of the Kolkata-based Sanjeev Goenka group, while the Rajkot bid was won by Intex Mobiles in a reverse bidding process by which the two teams were chosen.
Goenka’s company will shell out Rs 16 crore per year to the Indian board while Intex Mobiles will pay Rs 10 crore. “They won’t take a single penny from the BCCI. In fact they will pay the BCCI,” board secretary Anurag Thakur said after a meeting of the IPL Governing Council which also finalised the IPL-9 dates between April 9- May 29.
IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla said the owners had not paid the usual franchise fees to tournament organisers for the right to field teams, but would instead forgo payments from a central pool of money made up of cash from TV rights and sponsorship.
“This speaks to the enduring popularity of the tournament, that instead of us paying them money they are going to pay us,” Shukla said after the new teams were announced.
The auction followed the decision by India’s cricket board to ban the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals from the glitzy tournament for two years on the recommendation of a Supreme Court-appointed panel.
The 2013 IPL season was mired in controversy after police launched legal proceedings against several officials from the two teams and three Rajasthan Royals’ players for illegal betting and spot-fixing.
Five players from each of the Chennai and Rajasthan franchises will be drafted into the new teams on December 15, while the rest will feature in an auction in Bengaluru on February 6, Shukla said. The new buyers have ensured the IPL will remain an eight-team event at least the next two years.
“We are very excited to be associated with a popular brand like the IPL,” said Intex director Keshav Bansal. The teams were sold through the reverse bidding process for which the base price was set at Rs 40 crore and bidders had to quote an amount less than that. The lowest bidders were given the franchises.
However, both the CSK and RR will be allowed back in the league after serving out their suspension. 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.
Players will be picked via draft
Players from the suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals will be divided into two groups of capped and uncapped and the top names will be sold through the draft system. The new teams will have a minimum of Rs 40 crore and a maximum of Rs 66 crore to buy their players.
For the 10 players chosen, the BCCI has applied the same money brackets it put in place two years ago when the other six franchises were allowed to retain five players. The first player gets Rs 12.5 crore, the second Rs 9.5 crore, the third Rs 7.5 crore, the fourth Rs 5.5 crore and the fifth Rs 4 crore.
An uncapped player, if picked, stands to earn Rs 4 crore. The cricketers who remain unselected will go to general pool to be available for fresh auction, scheduled for February 6 in Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, the BCCI announced a cash incentive of Rs 2 crores for the Indian team for trouncing World No.1 South Africa in the just-concluded Test series. The 3-0 result took them to number two in the latest Test rankings behind South Africa.
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