The Indian Premier League (IPL) is the biggest franchise-based cricket league in the world, is set to get bigger with the introduction of two new franchises.
From the Adani Group to Manchester United's owners, the Glazers, several big names have reportedly expressed their interest in owning one of the two new franchises.As per a report in NDTV, Lucknow and Ahmedabad are topping the charts in the race as home venues for the two new franchises.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently extended the deadline to receive the tender documents for the 9th and 10th IPL franchises. "Pursuant to requests from various interested parties, BCCI has now decided to further extend the date for purchasing the ITT document till October 20, 2021," a BCCI release had said.
It isn't yet known when the Indian board is going to announce the names of the two new owners but there's a strong chance that the franchises will be based out of Ahmedabad and Lucknow.
List of interested parties to have shown interest in the two new franchises: Sanjeev Kumar - RPSG. Glazer Family - Manchester United Owners. Adani Group. Naveen Jindal - Jindal Power & Steel. Torrent Pharma. Ronnie Screwvala. Aurobindo Pharma. Kotak Group. CVC Partners. Singapore Based PE Firm. Hindustan Times Media. Broadcast & Sport Consulting Agencies ITW, Group M.
Alongside Ahmedabad and Lucknow, Cuttack, Guwahati, Ranchi and Dharamsala were shortlisted as the bases of the two new teams.