IPL 2021 to have ninth team? Full mega-auction likely

The IPL 2020 was held successfully in the United Arab Emirates amidst the coronavirus pandemic and it ended on Tuesday with Mumbai Indians sealing a record fifth IPL title by beating Delhi Capitals in the final by five wickets. The BCCI held the tournament successfully without any glitches and there has been plenty of appreciation for the Indian Cricket Board for the way how the tournament was handled. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has said that IPL 2021 will be held in India around the April to May period while the Women’s IPL will be played with seven to eight teams in the next two years.

However, there might be some major developments ahead of IPL 2021. According to a report in The Hindu, there are plans by the BCCI to conduct the entire mega-auction before the start of the tournament. The major news could be that the IPL 2021 could feature a ninth team and that could be from Gujarat. Recently, the Motera stadium in Gujarat underwent a renovation which increased the capacity to 110,000, making it the largest stadium as per capacity.

Financial balance

According to The Hindu report, the full auction is being planned since “the BCCI has plans to add a ninth team” for the 2021 edition.

The IPL 2020 was postponed from the April-May window to September to November due to the coronavirus pandemic situation. The BCCI office-bearers are still holding on to their positions as the Supreme Court might look to hear into the pleas to seek tenure extension.

The BCCI Annual General Meeting in September tried to lay out a blueprint for the resumption of domestic cricket in the country. The sides for the tour of Australia was selected while there were plans for England to tour India in February 2021 for a Test, ODI and T20I series.

With the coronavirus situation still increasing rapidly in India, the BCCI will be hoping for a solution soon if they have to host the tournament in India around the period of April and May.