10 teams in IPL 2022? BCCI makes big statement ahead of 2nd phase of cash-rich tournament
'Everybody is looking up to the IPL now; we believe it will be an exciting tournament in UAE,' the BCCI had said.
Surely not the first time, but talks about the Indian Premier League (IPL) going from eight to 10 teams have done the rounds for quite some time.
However, now it has been declared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that the IPL 2021 Phase 2 in UAE will be the last time the tournament will see eight teams.
According to BCCI's treasurer Arun Dhumal, IPL 2022 will see 10 teams play and the cricket board is working on the tender process which will be released soon.
"Everybody is looking up to the IPL now; we believe it will be an exciting tournament in UAE. This would be the last season of IPL with eight teams. Surely there will be 10 teams next time. We are working on that,” he declared.
When Dhumal was further asked when the two new teams will be finalized, the BCCI official refused to reveal further on the issue. However, according to InsideSport, the Tender Documents will be released by the end of August. The BCCI will likely be finalising the two teams by the middle of October.
With BCCI set to welcome two new teams from the 2022 edition, the guesswork around the said teams have begun. While some believe that one team will be from Ahmedabad after the newly built Narendra Modi Stadium at Motera, the guesses, predictions, etc for the second team have started.
Many believe that Pune could be the 10th team, however, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has predicted that it will be the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow.
Apart from Ahmedabad, Pune, and Lucknow the other cities that will be in contention for the two slots would likely be Kanpur, Guwahati, Indore, Kochi, Raipur, and Trivandrum.
Base price for IPL teams:
The purses of the teams are also set to increase by around INR 5 crore each. Till last year, the BCCI was planning to keep 1500 crore as the base price for the new IPL teams.
However, the recent investments in Rajasthan Royals (RR) at a very high valuation have changed the entire dynamics. The BCCI is planning the sale of two teams before the start of the remaining phase of the current edition of the league.